On Tuesday, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the 2019-20 season would be ruled to be complete as of March 11, the last date of play prior to the season being indefinitely paused due to coronavirus concerns. The NHL’s plan to return to play will involve the top 12 teams from each conference being entered into a postseason tournament that will eventually become the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With a 29-33-9 record and 0.472, the Ducks sit 13th in the Western Conference, missing out on participating in the Qualifying Round, despite being one of just five teams in the conference to complete 71 games — though the benefit clear, earning the fifth-best probabilities for earning a top-five pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft lottery, as opposed to the 12th place Chicago Blackhawks, who may have only earned the honor of being eliminated in three games instead of four.