Explaining NHL Rule Changes for 2024-25 Season and Details on Stanley Cup Bracket

Steph Chambers/ The NHL regular season begins on North American soil on Tuesday with three games.

The season kicked off on Friday with two contests between the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres in Prague.

The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are part of Tuesday's schedule, as they host the Boston Bruins.

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that begin play on Wednesday. The Oilers will try to get back to the Stanley Cup Final after losing to the Panthers.

Only a few small rule changes were made ahead of the 2024-25 season and the postseason format remains the same.

The most significant rule change is that coaches can now challenge a penalty for a puck going out of play.

The challenge applies to "delay of game penalties when the puck is determined to have deflected off a player, stick, glass or boards, and not on a judgment call on how the puck left the defensive zone.", per NHL.com.

If the challenge fails, the team will be hit with an additional two-minute penalty on top of the original delay of game penalty.

Three other minor rule changes will be applied for the 2024-25 regular season.

The defensive team can't make a line change if the goaltender accidentally dislodges the net, the offensive center will receive one faceoff warning after an icing and one warning per game will be issued for players sitting on the boards.

Stanley Cup Bracket

The NHL playoff format remains the same for the 2024-25 campaign.

The top three teams in the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific Divisions automatically qualify for the postseason.

Two wild-card teams will come out of the Eastern and Western Conferences. The No. 2 wild-card team faces the division winner with the most points, while the top wild-card squad takes on the other division champion.

The No. 2 and No. 3 sides in each division will square off in the opening round. The winner of those matchups will be matched up with their division winners on their side of the bracket.