I agree the format is dumb and this is an ECF worthy matchup but NYR, CAR, FLA, BOS were all clearly the top 4 teams in the east and they all could have been interchangeable in any order.
Look at the west. Just a lot of really good teams and then the teams in the next tier have a noticeable drop off.
Having a likely final 4 out west of COL, VAN, EDM, and then one of DAL/VGK is crazy as well.
Winnipeg was a really good team and got smoked. One of Dallas and Vegas aren’t going to move on. This year there were 10-12 legit really good teams that could have been contenders.
I’d be happy to go back to 1-8 or even 1-16 honestly. Don’t care about east west stuff at all. Go 2-3-2 in the playoffs