[getbak]

The problem with 16 or even 20 teams is that the teams in the 15-20 range are all effectively tied (and those on either side of that range aren't too far ahead or behind).

The teams that would be in or out of a 16 team cutoff would change based on what formula you used to do the rankings. That becomes a major sticking point as each team is going advocate for the formula that works best for themselves.

The best cutoff point would be at 21 teams, with Minnesota in and Arizona out, but they won't do that because it's uneven.

When they were planning on using 4 hub cities, having the number of teams be divisible by 4 was needed, but now that they're talking about 2 hubs, there's no reason they couldn't have 11 teams in each conference, with the top-5 getting byes and the rest doing a play-in round for the final 3 playoff spots.

If I was Edmonton or Pittsburgh, that's what I'd be in favour of (especially the Oilers). Since I hate the Oilers, I don't mind giving the Hawks a chance to steal a 5 game series.