The whole point of the recent realignment was to encourage playoff rivalries. A Buffalo-San Jose first round matchup would be ridiculous. The division playoff needs to remain.
This is a bit of a crazy idea, but what if overall division vs. division record determined how many teams from each division qualified? Top 2 divisions get 6 teams each, other division gets 4. First round is within division, getting us down to 3,3,2. 2 teams are split out to the other divisions (top record division gets lower point team). Then re-seeding and possible travel are still a problem in round 2 and beyond.
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