Why shouldn't the NHL playoffs be a straight 1-16 bracket showdown tournament where any two teams could possibly meet for the Stanley Cup?
On March 17th, TSN analyst and fancy-stats guru Travis Yost tweeted this:
"Who wins?"
With the big dance of college basketball taking off just days ago, it seems like a highly relevant question: what would happen if the NHL playoffs were played out in a similar straight-bracket format? The top 16 teams, regardless of conference or division, make the playoffs and get paired up with literally any possible opponent for a best-of-seven showdown.