Quoting: Pens3lieve
I think the most likely scenario for the 2020 NHL playoff format would include 24 teams, and the top-8 would get a bye-week while the other 16 play a best-of-__.
In this case the matchups would be:
CBJ-TOR---}Winner(plays)BOS
PIT-MTL---}Winner(plays)PHI
NYR-CAR---}Winner(plays)TBL
NYI-FLA---}Winner(plays)WSH
WPG-CGY---}Winner(plays)COL
EDM-CHI---}Winner(plays)DAL
ARI-NSH---}Winner(plays)STL
VAN-MIN---}Winner(plays)VGK
Who would you take in the theoretical "round of 24"?
Whoever wins that round will move on to the "round of 16".
Qualifier round:
Toronto over CBJ 2-0 in a best of 3 ... Matthews scores 20 goals in game 1 and 34 (his jersey number) in game 2, for a total of 54 in 2 games.
Montreal over Pittsburgh 2-0 just because I'm a Rangers and Isles fan (so i'm not predicting Pittsburgh)
NYR over Carolina 2-0 of course (Game 1: 100-0 ... game 2: 305-0)
And NYI over Florida 2-0 (87-0 in game 1, 75-0 in game 2)
Winnipeg over Calgary 2-1 (John Scott comes out of retirement and scores in all three games for the Jets)
Edmonton over Chicago (who cares how many games)
Arizona over Nashville (sellout crowd in Glendale even during COVID-19 ... because they have so many fans there)
Vancouver over Minnesota
Playoffs (best of 7s):
Toronto over Boston in ...
No, wait, Boston over Toronto in 7
Montreal over Philadelphia in 8
NY Rangers over Tampa Bay in 4 (0 goals scored by Tampa Bay)
NY Islanders over Washington in 4 (Capitals only score one goal in the whole series ... scored by Ovechkin, because he doesn't know how not to score goals)
Colorado over Winnipeg in 5
Draisaitl and McDavid over Dallas in 6 (just the two of them against the entire Stars team)
St. Louis over Arizona in 4 (four shutouts for Binnington ... he leaves the ice without celebrating)
Vancouver over Vegas in 5
NY Rangers over Boston in 4
NY Islanders over Montreal (series not played due to the coro ... i mean, the fact that the Islanders are obviously better ... they automatically move on to the 3rd round)
Colorado over St. Louis in 7
Because every player on the Oilers dresses for the team against the Canucks, they are eliminated from the playoffs by the league for breaking the rules ... they only had McDavid and Draisaitl on their lineup card ... the Canucks decide to quit because they don't want to win the cup unfairly ... both teams are replaced by San Jose and Los Angeles, who play a best-of-seven series that the Kings end up winning in 7 games.
The Rangers and Islanders are both so good that they both get to skip ahead to the final.
Los Angeles over Colorado in a huge upset (LA wins 693802-0 in game 1 and because of that game, the league decides they can skip to the final without even needing to finish the series).
The Rangers and Islanders team up against the Kings in the final, but the league decides it's unfair for the Kings, so they get the Detroit Red Wings to join them. Of course, the Rangers and Islanders win the series in 4 (all games 1000-0) ...
Then, in a series to decide the cup winner, the Rangers and Islanders tie in regulation in game 1, so they go to overtime ... after 25 overtimes without a goal, they decide to call the game a tie. The same happens for 74 more games before the league finally decides to award the Stanley cup to both teams. So, the Rangers AND Islanders win the Stanley cup in 2020.
What do you think? Do you agree with my predictions?