Here's an idea:
Realign to 3 conferences, West, Central, East (which could be split into divisions or not), and have the top five from each conference plus the next best record make the playoffs and simply bracket it out as 1vs16, 2vs15...and so on.
Sample breakdown:
WEST
Van
SJ
LA
Ana
Phx
Edm
Cgy
Col
Min
Dal
CENTRAL
Chi
Nsh
Wpg
Stl
Clb
Det
Ott
Tor
Buf
Mon
EAST
Bos
NJ
NYI
NYR
Pitt
Phi
Car
TB
Fla
Wsh
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