The Pittsburgh Penguins finished with the NHL's second-best record, so common sense would have you believe they'd be rewarded with weaker playoff opponents given their strong regular season.

However, with the NHL's strange divisional playoff seeding, Pittsburgh had to face the NHL's fourth-best team (Columbus) in the first round, and the NHL's top-seeded team (Washington) in the second round in order to advance to the conference finals.

On the other hand, Ottawa, who finished 12th in league standings, faced the 13th-seeded Bruins in Round 1 and the ninth-seeded Rangers in Round 2, where they still somehow had home-ice advantage.

This left many people in the hockey universe hoping the NHL would revert back to it's previous format, where the conference's top seed would face the eighth seed, the second seed would face the seventh seed, and so on. It doesn't appear this will be happening, though.

"Obviously this was a unique year with a lot of strong teams in one division," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, according to Chris Johnston from Sportsnet. "That doesn't happen every year and I think to pick kind of one unique year and to scrap a whole system based on that is probably a little bit short-sighted. Let's see what the future brings."

Daly was referring is the Metro Division which finished with the first-, second-, fourth-, and ninth-ranked teams in league standings.

One of those teams, the fourth-ranked Blue Jackets, got pretty shafted by facing the defending champs on the road in Round 1. It was the best season in franchise history, but they were ousted in just five games.

"I don't think it was designed for this," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in March. "I don't think it was intended for this to happen."

Even players have chimed in about their opinions on the format.

"It's stupid. It's the stupidest thing ever," Capitals forward Daniel Winnik said. "It doesn't work. It doesn't make any sense."

Daly and the NHL appear to be content with their playoff seeding format, so it would likely take multiple debacles like this season in order for them to revert to the previous system.

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Getting last-minute tickets to Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final in Nashville is going to set you back a bit.

The first-ever Cup Final game at Bridgestone Arena is sold out through the Predators' official website, but secondary ticket service StubHub is selling a select number of seats for over $10,000 each after fees. However, the cheapest tickets - up in the 300 level of the arena - are selling for $1,032 each.

As for Game 2 in Pittsburgh, resale tickets can be purchased on the Penguins' official site for as low as $240.

Of course, you could always take in the game from the comfort of your own home as well.

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With the offseason underway for a number of teams and the remainder set to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.

2016-17 grade: A+

The Edmonton Oilers took a huge step forward this season. The club reached the postseason for the first time in 11 years, and came within a single win of advancing to the Western Conference Final.

Connor McDavid won the NHL scoring title, while Leon Draisaitl looks to be the Evgeni Malkin to McDavid's Sidney Crosby. Cam Talbot was stellar despite a heavy workload, and, for once, Oilers fans aren't concerned about the draft lottery results.

Free agents

There are a couple of notable names here, but Draisaitl and, to a lesser extent, Kris Russell are the priorities.

2017 draft picks

Summer priorities

Sign Draisaitl to a long-term deal

Draisaitl just had his coming out party. He was a force all season, but especially in the playoffs, leading the team in scoring with 16 points. It would be wise for Peter Chiarelli to lock up the restricted free agent long term before his value goes up.

Related: Projecting Leon Draisaitl's next contract

The market for his services has quietly been set, with the likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mark Scheifele all inking deals recently in the ballpark of six-to-eight years at an annual salary of $6 million to $7 million.

Draisaitl could be better than each of those players, so getting him inked to a deal like that could end up being a bargain down the road.

Ink McDavid to long-term extension (duh)

Unlike the Draisaitl contract, this one will likely include very little negotiation. McDavid is already one of the best players in the league. You're going to have to pay a near-max dollar amount for him, but he's proven through less than two full seasons in the league that he's totally worth it.

McDavid is eligible for an extension July 1. Lock him up and reap the benefits - there's not much else to it.

Get Puljujarvi NHL ready

The Oilers appeared to get a steal in last year's draft after the Columbus Blue Jackets surprised some by selecting Pierre-Luc Dubois third overall. It had been widely projected that pick would be used to select Jesse Puljujarvi.

The Oilers jumped on the chance to take the skilled winger, and the move appeared to be an instant win when the 18-year-old scored in his first career NHL game.

However, inconsistency followed, and he shortly landed in the AHL. There, he showed more promise, tallying 12 goals and 28 points in 39 games. There's no doubt Puljujarvi has the skill and potential to be great, and if he can take a step forward next season, the Oilers will have another tool and more willingness to trade one of their other forwards, such as Eberle or Nugent-Hopkins.

2017-18 Outlook

The Oilers made a dramatic jump this season. They finished with 33 more points than the previous season and were one win back of the Pacific-leading Anaheim Ducks.

McDavid won the scoring title and Talbot proved he can handle the responsibilities of a No. 1 netminder. Then there's Draisaitl, and the improved defense core.

The Oilers finally played like the team many envisioned for so long. Their days of missing the playoffs appear to be in the rear-view mirror for now, and they should be expected to challenge for a division title and perhaps the Cup next season.

A few minor tweaks could go a long way, but even without that, Edmonton should be in a good position to compete with the league's best for years to come.

Offseason Outlook Series

COL | VAN | NJD | ARI | BUF
DET | DAL | FLA | LAK | CAR
WPG | PHI | TBL | NYI | WSH
TOR | CGY | BOS | SJS | STL
NYR | EDM | MTL | ANA | MIN
CBJ | CHI | OTT | PIT | NAS
LGK

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final has come and gone, and yet, most of the hockey world is wondering what the heck just happened.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Nashville Predators 5-3, but this was no ordinary contest.

The Good

Predators' Defense

While observers sit back and mock the Penguins for failing to muster a shot for 37 minutes, why not dish out some credit to the Predators' defense?

By now, we all know Nashville's strength is its blue line, and they stifled the playoffs' best offense unlike we've ever seen, allowing just 12 shots in the loss.

P.K. Subban in particular was dominant. In his first Cup Final game, Subban logged 22 minutes, and was on the ice for a team-leading 17 of Nashville's 36 even strength shot attempts. He even scored a goal ... kind of. We'll get to that.

Entertainment value

While the second period was a 20-minute snoozefest, there was no shortage of talking points to take away from this one.

This pretty much sums it up:

The bad

Ekholm's own goal

Already facing a 2-0 deficit, a seemingly harmless play turned the Predators' tough first period into a full-blown disaster.

Cruising down the boards, Penguins winger Nick Bonino shoveled the puck toward the goal, where it bounced off Pekka Rinne, then defenseman Mattias Ekholm, and into the goal.

Funnily enough, the Penguins' next shot on goal was Jake Guentzel's winner.

Offside reviews

This cost the Predators a lead.

While by the book it's correct, hockey fans have long dreaded the moment a coach's challenge would effect a Stanley Cup Final game, and we finally got it.

Pittsburgh gained possession, gave it away, then watched Subban pick the corner with a perfect shot before this play was deemed illegal. Something needs to change.

The ugly

Rinne's save percentage

One of the main reasons Nashville has reached this point, Rinne would be best to forget his Game 1 performance.

Pittsburgh may have lulled him to sleep by essentially taking him out of the game, but Rinne finished with a .636 save percentage, the worst single-game effort in the expansion era.

The catfish

(Photo Courtesy: Action Images)

Nashville's catfish-chuckin' tradition made its way to Pittsburgh for Game 1, and it was gross.

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It was a record-setting night for the Pittsburgh Penguins and not in a good way.

After firing home three goals in the first period of the Stanley Cup Final opener against the Nashville Predators, the middle frame was a stark contrast for Sidney Crosby and Co.

The Penguins were held without a shot in the second period, while the Predators peppered netminder Matt Murray with 10 pucks. Despite the difference, the Penguins held a 3-1 lead at the second intermission.

It was a franchise low mark for the Penguins, who prior to Monday had not gone an entire period of a playoff match without a shot on goal. It was also the first time a team has been held without a shot in a period of the Finals since the NHL began tracking the stat in 1957-58.

The streak lasted exactly 37 minutes before Jake Guentzel put a shot on Pekka Rinne and scored. It was the first shot since Nick Bonino scored with 17 seconds remaining in the first period.

Interestingly enough, it wasn't the first time this postseason where a team was held without a shot through a period. In Round 1 action between the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, the Bruins failed to put a puck on net during the second period of the series opener. The Bruins went 24:49 before finally getting a shot in the third frame.

Earlier this season, the Vancouver Canucks set a modern-day record when it took them more than 28 minutes to register their first shot in a game against the Arizona Coyotes.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were due for a shot on goal, and Jake Guentzel certainly gave them one.

Guentzel scored the eventual game-winning goal late in the third period, beating Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne with 3:17 remaining to give the Penguins a 4-3 lead en route to a 5-3 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.

It was Pittsburgh's first shot on goal in exactly 37 minutes, snapping a drought that included a shot-less second period.

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Gary Bettman brushed off Jim Rutherford's concern over treatment of his captain before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL commissioner was asked Monday about comments made by the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager on the eve of the championship round. Rutherford implied Sunday that Crosby and Pittsburgh's other stars are being pushed around without adequate consequences and that he might have to add some beef to the roster to protect them.

Bettman responded Monday, prefacing his reply by saying he thinks "the world" of Rutherford personally and professionally, but adding that the timing of the Penguins GM's remarks was a bit strange.

"The timing of what he said, to me, seems a little odd," the commissioner said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "That's something you do in a GM meeting, not the night before - or the day of - (Game 1 of) the Stanley Cup Final. Maybe he's trying to tweak the officials a little bit, but in the final analysis, we don't want our players getting hurt."

Bettman also pointed out that the Penguins have drawn criticism from other teams for the way they've played.

"I think it's fair to say that all of the teams that have been in the playoffs have been very physical," he said. "There are a couple of people who have complained from other teams about some of the things Pittsburgh players have done. Some of that goes in the category of gamesmanship. Some of that goes to the fact we need to be vigilant as a league to make sure players are not unnecessarily and inappropriately hurt. As I said, that is something we continue to monitor and will. Having said that, I take all of the concerns from all of our players, all of our clubs and all of our owners very seriously on this issue.”

Rutherford's comments largely fell on deaf ears until Bettman was questioned about them Monday before the opening game of the Cup Final.

“I hear year after year how the league and everyone loves how the Penguins play,” Rutherford told Ken Campbell of The Hockey News on Sunday. "(Everyone says) ‘They play pure hockey and they skate.’ Well, now it’s going to have to change and I feel bad about it, but it’s the only way we can do it. We’re going to have to get one or two guys…and some of these games that should be just good hockey games will turn into a s--- show. We’ll go right back to where we were in the '70s and it’s really a shame.”

Rutherford wasn't done there.

“The league has got to fix it,” the GM said. “In other leagues, they protect star players. In basketball, they don’t let their top players get abused. And in our league, well the thing I keep hearing is, ‘That’s hockey. That’s hockey,’ No, it’s not.”

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Well, that was anticlimactic.

P.K. Subban thought he'd scored the opening goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, but a coach's challenge from Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins ultimately nullified it when Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg was deemed offside upon entering the zone.

The NHL determined Forsberg preceded the puck into the attacking zone and didn't have possession or control of it before crossing the blue line.

It was an extremely close play, and the challenge drew plenty of derision on social media, so it's time to have your say. Should it have counted?

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