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Joined: Nov. 2015
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I'm perfectly content with 16 teams making the playoffs. I'm also fine with the way playoff berths are determined (top 3 in each division, plus 2 wild cards per conference), but once the playoffs start I would like to see the seeding done as 1-8 for each conference. That way division play is still valuable in order to make the playoffs, but then you don't have the best teams playing each other in the earlier rounds. So it's sort of a hybrid between the current NHL system and the pre-play-in NBA system. Before the implementation of the play-in rounds, the NBA did a 1-8 conference setup, but it was just the top 8 in each conference that make the playoffs, so division play was essentially meaningless (still is even with the new play-in format); even winning your division didn't guarantee a playoff berth.
So based on points percentage of the current standings we would have:
Eastern Conference
1. Boston
8. Pittsburgh
2. Toronto
7. Washington
3. Carolina
6. NY Rangers
4. New Jersey
5. Tampa Bay
Western Conference
1. Dallas
8. Calgary
2. Vegas
7. Nashville
3. Seattle
6. Minnesota
4. Winnipeg
5. Los Angeles
And obviously with reseeding after each round.