Rod Brind'Amour says the Carolina Hurricanes believe the 24-team playoff format the league announced Tuesday dismisses the success they achieved throughout the majority of the season.

"I think the bigger issue felt like, and especially our guys, was like 'what was the 68 games we played for?'" the head coach said Wednesday on the "ESPN on Ice" podcast.

"What did we grind for? The bulk of the season was completed, and they just threw that out, and I think that's how (the Hurricanes) felt," he added. "I think that's justifiable in a way."

The Hurricanes, who occupied the first Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 81 points through 68 games when the season was suspended March 12, were one of two teams - along with the Tampa Bay Lightning - to vote against the expanded playoff format.

"For where we were and where our team thought we could get to, it hurts our odds," said forward Jordan Martinook.

Under the arrangement, Carolina will meet the New York Rangers - who earned 79 points in 70 games and sat outside the traditional playoff field - in a best-of-five play-in series.

Brind'Amour thinks instead of a play-in, the league could have played out the remaining games normally to decide the postseason seeding for a typical 16-team format.

"Why not carry the points over that you have?" he said. "If we're playing in, I think the thought was if you're playing in, five, six, seven games, however, we could easily have all had the same amount of games, figured that out and that would have been your play-in, and take your points with you and see how you end up."

On the plus side for the Hurricanes, Brind'Amour says defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Sami Vatanen, who were injured when play was paused, will be back in the lineup. Blue-liner Brett Pesce is "more of a longshot" to return.

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Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin will be back in the lineup for the club's play-in series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, general manager Marc Bergevin announced Wednesday.

Drouin was limited to only 27 games in 2019-20 after battling a series of injuries. The 25-year-old most recently played Feb. 25 and missed the Canadiens' final six contests with an ankle injury before the league suspended the season on March 12.

The 6-foot winger tallied seven goals and 15 points while averaging 15:42 of ice time this season.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the 24-team, two-city playoff format Tuesday.

The Canadiens, who were all but eliminated from postseason contention under the traditional format, own the 12th and final Eastern Conference playoff spot under the restructured conference-based seeding. Montreal will play the fifth-seeded Penguins in a best-of-five qualifying series with the winner advancing to the 16-team bracket.

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Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is excited for his club's opportunity to see its season through with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman officially announcing the league's 24-team playoff format Tuesday.

"I think we're certainly going to embrace it as a unique experience, but also as a tremendous opportunity for our team and for our group," Dubas said Wednesday in an interview with TSN.

Under the format, the Leafs are slated to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in a best-of-five play-in series. After a wildly inconsistent 2019-20 campaign that comes on the heels of three straight first-round playoff exits, Dubas knows how important it is for his club to take the next step.

"I think we have a lot to prove. ... If we really want to take advantage of the talent and the potential that we have, it's a great opportunity now for us to individually during Phase 2 go about our own business and get into the best condition and fitness level we possibly can get into, and then for (head coach) Sheldon (Keefe) and our management group to have the team as ready as possible once we get into Phase 3," Dubas said.

Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, who was one of five player representatives on the NHL/NHLPA Return to Play Committee, says he's satisfied with the plan after some people expressed their concern about the integrity of awarding the Stanley Cup in a non-standard postseason after an abbreviated regular season.

"Any team that's got to win possibly five rounds and probably - obviously not for sure, but probably four rounds of best of seven ... I think considering what we're all going through and what it's going to take to get this done and be able to play ... it's going to be a very, very worthy and deserving Stanley Cup champion," Tavares said.

The Leafs will likely welcome forward Ilya Mikheyev - who's been out with a wrist injury since December - back into the lineup, along with defensemen Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin. Dubas also said Wednesday that prospect Nick Robertson will be included on the club's expanded 28-man roster.

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Minnesota Wild netminder Devan Dubnyk says that while talks are moving in the right direction, the NHL and NHLPA still have a lot of work to do in establishing an appropriate plan for returning to play.

Players voted last week in favor of a 24-team playoff format in the event the season can continue this summer. The NHL is expected to announce exactly how this expanded format will work as early as Tuesday.

"But that does not mean hockey's back," said Dubnyk, who represents the Wild on the NHLPA's 31-player executive board, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. "We still have a long way to go."

He continued: "We voted strictly on the format. In other words, 'If we are to come back, this is how it's going to be played.' But we have not even touched on logistics or cities or travel or testing or how the economics will work or what this quarantine bubble (the players are) supposed to live in will be like or any of that stuff yet."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said last week the league is examining eight or nine potential locations that could serve as hub cities to host games. Requirements for hub cities include a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, sufficient hotel space for players and their families, suitable playing and practice facilities, and adequate testing areas.

But Dubnyk said many crucial questions remain.

"How long are guys OK with being away for? When we are in this city, are we locked in our hotel room?" he said. "Going from the hotel room to the rink and back only, are guys OK with just doing that? Can our families come with us, or if there's a family emergency and we leave the bubble (to go back into society), can we return to the bubble or are we done?

"What's the food situation? Like, can we only eat in our hotel rooms? How often are we tested? Who pays for that? What's the damage economically to the sport?

"All of these things - and there's so many variables - need to be talked about, and we've got to start getting a grasp on it now so that it doesn't just hit us in the face all of a sudden."

The NHL is looking to begin Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan in early June. At that point, players would be permitted to work out at team facilities in groups of no more than six.

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An infectious disease expert says NHL players shouldn't agree to a return to play before making sure the league will cover costs for any long-term medical issues that arise if they contract COVID-19.

"Young athletes do not think about this stuff because think they are invincible, but every so often we see young, healthy people get very bad diseases, and this is no different," said Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, according to TSN's Rick Westhead.

Dr. Morris urged players to ensure teams and the league are committed to covering the costs of any medical care including rehabilitation, hospitalization, prescriptions, and counseling; according to Morris, patients on ventilators can later suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"It would be unusual for a healthy young athlete to get really sick with COVID and wind up in the ICU, but, hey, somebody wins the lottery, right?" he said. He added: "(Players) should want their health care and income insured, seeing that they are taking an additional risk, especially if residing in the U.S."

The NHLPA agreed Friday to further talks with the NHL regarding a potential return featuring a 24-team playoff format. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is looking at eight or nine locations that could serve as hub cities to host games.

To this point, eight players - five from the Ottawa Senators and three from the Colorado Avalanche - have contracted and recovered from COVID-19.

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Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler believes a 24-team playoff format could offer bubble teams a leg up on the competition.

"I think what you need to be really conscientious of in this situation is that there are some teams that've had incredible regular seasons and you don't want to handicap them as well," Wheeler said on Wednesday's edition of "Dreger Cafe."

"I think the hard thing would be to have the bubble teams play a play-in and all of the sudden now Boston or St. Louis or Colorado who've been at the top of the standings all year, they're sitting there cold and have to play a team that's already played a three-to-five game series and they're coming in hot."

The NHL and NHLPA are reportedly making progress toward a 24-team playoff format. The expanded bracket would see clubs like the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks - who had an outside chance of making the playoffs when the season was suspended March 12 - included in the postseason.

Wheeler's Jets currently occupy the first Western Conference wild-card spot but have played two more games than the three teams directly below them and would potentially be involved in the play-in.

The veteran winger added that he isn't against the idea of an expanded playoff field but believes there must be meaningful games for all teams beforehand.

"When I say the games matter, I'm talking about do-or-die situations come up so that the players are in somewhat decent shape and so that the competitive balance is intact," Wheeler said.

Meanwhile, Nashville Predators forward Matt Duchene said Tuesday that he'd like to see the playoffs carried out in a more traditional fashion to avoid a "COVID Cup," where fans and pundits may place an asterisk beside the champion.

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but when that will be remains unclear with the 2019-20 campaign still on pause.

"It's a weird time to be heading into free agency," Barrie said Wednesday, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

"We're still not certain on what's going to play out here. At this point, I think all I can do is focus on getting ready to play, if we are going to play, and take a run with the Toronto Maple Leafs."

The Stanley Cup is traditionally awarded in early June and the free-agent signing period begins July 1. As the NHL continues to explore different scenarios for resuming play, several critical factors that will impact free agency - including what next season's salary cap will be - still need to be discussed.

While so much remains uncertain, Barrie is clear about what he's searching for when it comes to his next team.

"It's got to be the right fit. I think it has to be a spot where they are in need of someone like myself," he said. "A good team headed in the right direction and a good organization. I think there's a lot of right organizations that tick those boxes."

Barrie signed a four-year, $22-million deal with the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the 2016-17 season and was traded to Toronto last July. The veteran rearguard ranks fifth on the team and first among defensemen with 39 points while logging 21:53 of average ice time through 70 games.

Several other coveted talents are also set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, including Arizona Coyotes forward Taylor Hall and St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

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Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson believes he's ready to take his game to the highest level.

"My eyes are on the NHL right now," Robertson said, according to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke. "If I didn’t have (a) tenaciousness in my game, I wouldn't say I'm ready right now.”

The Leafs selected Robertson with the 53rd overall pick in the 2019 draft after he tallied 27 goals and a team-high 55 points through 54 games in his sophomore season with the OHL's Peterborough Petes.

This season, Robertson took his game to new heights. The dynamic winger exploded for a league-high 55 goals - which included a 14-game goal streak - and 86 points in 46 contests, and he attributed his strong performance to being able to focus solely on his play.

"My second year, I had the pressure of the draft and the combine and interviews," Robertson said. "Whereas in my third season, I know where I am. And I know that I’m already drafted and signed. So I’m not saying I’ve got nothing to lose, but I can go out there and do my thing and be confident."

Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said in March that Robertson will get every chance to make the big club's opening-night roster next season. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old knows the Leafs have plenty of offensive depth and insists he could make an impact in a bottom-six role if need be.

“I don’t have to be a top-six player to be effective," Robertson said. "It's not just my scoring or my playmaking. It's my tenacity. It's the way I work."

The Michigan native also represented Team USA at the 2020 world juniors, contributing two goals and five points over five outings.

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Nashville Predators forward Matt Duchene hopes that if the Stanley Cup is awarded this season, the NHL does its best to prevent anyone from putting an asterisk beside the champion.

"I just think that you gotta keep ... as much integrity as possible," Duchene told Sportsnet's "Hockey Central" on Tuesday.

“You don't want to have a COVID Cup, and I'm worried that if we come back and force this thing ... and it's a little gimmicky or if it's not quite right, whoever wins the Cup is gonna have people trying to take it away from them their whole lives and they don't deserve that, (the) guys that come back and ultimately win it. So I feel very passionately about this part of things."

The NHL is reportedly progressing toward using a 24-team playoff format - which would include several clubs that have been virtually eliminated from contention - if the 2019-20 campaign is able to resume.

The 29-year-old center expressed his distaste for an expanded playoff model and urged the league to implement a more traditional format instead.

"There's no fair way to say who should be in and who should be out because of not playing ... the full 82 - but, for lack of a better word, somebody's gonna get screwed," Duchene said.

"So I believe let's keep it as traditional as possible. I'd love to see us jump to a 16-team playoff. Normal (best-of-seven) playoff, maybe you're playing a little more frequently because guys are gonna be fresh and you can play a game at 3 o’clock on Friday and play at 7 on Saturday and there's no travel."

Duchene's Predators currently occupy the final Western Conference wild-card berth with the season on hold.

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly remains optimistic about the league's potential resumption despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement Tuesday that the border between the United States and Canada will remain closed for all non-essential travel for another 30 days.

Daly is hopeful the decision "will not materially affect the resumption of play timelines we are currently contemplating," according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Though players and staff remain in self-quarantine, the league hopes to initiate Phase 2 of its return plan by late May. At that point, players would be permitted to train in team facilities in small groups while following health and safety guidelines.

The league is reportedly looking to utilize a 24-team playoff format. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that approximately eight or nine locations are being looked at as potential hub cities to host up to a dozen teams in one location.

Trudeau said earlier this month that any players crossing over into Canada would need to follow quarantine protocol if the NHL should return.

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