Playoffs on Thanksgiving
Divisional Format (i.e. current model)
Tampa Bay v. Washington, Toronto v. Detroit
Columbus v. Pittsburgh, New Jersey v. NY Islanders
St. Louis v. San Jose, Winnipeg v. Nashville
Vegas v. Vancouver, Los Angeles v. Calgary

Conference format (division winners #1 and #2)
Tampa Bay v. NY Rangers, Columbus v. Washington, Toronto v. Pittsburgh, New Jersey v. NY Islanders
St. Louis v. San Jose, Vegas v. Vancouver, Winnipeg v. Calgary, Nashville v. Los Angeles

League format (pure league standings)
Tampa Bay v. San Jose, St. Louis v. NY Rangers, Winnipeg v. Washington, Columbus v. Pittsburgh, Toronto v. Vancouver, Nashville v. Calgary, New Jersey v. Los Angeles, Vegas v. NY Islanders

Which set would you prefer?

I actually kind of like the idea of having the top 8 teams in each conference making it ...

1 vs 8
2 vs 7
3 vs 6
4 vs 5
I would do that instead of the way they used to do it. The only change from how they did it a few years ago is: They didn't do it 1-8 2-7 3-6 4-5, they had the top team play the 5th place non division winner, the 2nd place division winner playing the 4th place non division winner, the 3rd place division winner play the 3rd place non division winner, and the 1st place non division winner playing the 2nd place non division winner.
So I think they could just do 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5.

1 vs 8
4 vs 5
2 vs 7
3 vs 6

1 vs 4
2 vs 3

1 vs 2

Formatted like this (assuming higher ranked team wins each matchup)

Conference format is much better. Last year, three of the top four teams in the East were all in the same bracket of four. That's not right.

So are you suggesting what i'm suggesting or what they were doing in 2012-13 and before?

The Divisional Format has its benefits, but it has its flaws. Rather than taking the best teams from the entire conference, the top 3 teams in each division are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, regardless of point totals. This is most prevalent in the Eastern Conference, in which the Metropolitan has 7/8 teams that have the ability to make the playoffs, however they cannot because the maximum is 5 from one division. While a team like PHI, NYI, or CAR might have a lower point total than their counterparts in the Atlantic, I don't think that differential is a fair representation of the skill of those two teams.

The League Format has really only one upside in which the league gets the top 16 teams regardless of division, but this will inevitably lead to a conference having a disproportional amount of teams in the playoffs. The result of that would lead to the conference that has little representation, having higher pick selections in the draft and will just replace the other conference in an never ending cycle of unbalanced representation. Further, tanking will result because teams will now have to find ways to stay at the top of not only their conference, but their league. Every team has to lose before they can win, and tanking shotguns that process.

The Conference Format is my preferred option because it still brings the best talent from each conference, but will not lead to unbalanced representation. This is the best format because teams from each conference have an equal opportunity to make the playoffs compared to the Divisional Format which gives teams in their respective divisions the best opportunity to make the playoffs.

I would make the playoff formatting like the 1-8/2-7 format, looking like this
(1) Division Leader vs. (8)
(4) vs. (5)
(2) Division Leader vs. (7)
(3) vs. (6)

Leafs vs Montreal, Leafs vs Wings Leafs vs Buffalo Leafs vs Avs. Leafs could be could be Cup champs.

Like the above phillyjabroni format.

Conference 1-8 (division winners get top 2 spots), with reseeding after each round.

It's pretty straight forward how bad the current format is. Conference formatting is the way to go, makes all parties happy.

Not surprised you dislike it, Washington has arguably been burned the worst by the current playoff system. Playing Pittsburgh regularly, for other fans like myself it kind of gets boring to see the same matchups year after year.

Lol I wonder if we would've still lost in round 2 no matter who we played, or if we would've played Pittsburgh in the conference finals.


Probably the former tbh

Current format is the worst, because does not guarantee top 16 team get the playoff spots. My opinion is the league format.

Current format works...