Wasn't part of the question, but there's no way they add a whole other best of 7, so I think that the "Wild Card" round would be best of 3 or 5. Just to make it interesting, I'll go with best of 3.

TOR over CBJ
PIT over MTL
CAR over NYR
NYI over FLA

CGY over WPG
CHI over EDM
NSH over ARI
VAN over MIN

I'd love to go in depth with each series, but that's going to take forever, but generally speaking, I think goaltending will be huge, just because a victory in game 1 would mean so much more. So for the most part, I took the team with the better goalie. Again, big generalization, but that's how I see it

I can't see this happening, as it ADDS a round to the entire postseason. I think much more likely (and equitable) is they finish the regular season by every team playing to 75 games and then do two best-of-five and two best-of-seven rounds.

Skjei inside job incoming

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?

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".

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Who are you guys taking in these first round playoff series? Please vote. Consensus winners move on to the next round.

I think a preliminary round like the one proposed would only be 3 games. also if the next round or two was downsized I wouldn't be surprised.

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".

So you're saying that the first round would be a sort of "play-in" 2-out-of-3, implying that there would be no continuation of the regular season? That's an interesting thought.

Keep in mind that a 3-out-of-5 would require 11 days between the first game of each round, assuming no back-to-back games. That means that the entire five rounds would take 61 days. Keep that in mind when looking at the start of training camp, the 2020-2021 season, the draft combine and draft itself, etc.

i was looking for someone to predict Habs would win (tho they won't) and they def won't get to round 2.

CBJ-TOR :::: Tor in 6
PIT-MTL :::: PIT in 4
NYR-CAR :::: CAR in 7
NYI-FLA :::: NYI in 5
WPG-CGY :::: WPG in 7
EDM-CHI :::: EDM in 5
ARI-NSH :::: NSH in 6
VAN-MIN :::: VAN in 6

I feel like they can beat the Flyers in a good, close 8-game series.

I don't think so... compare the lines.

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".

Flyers will be leading 4-3 after winning game 7, but I feel like the Canadiens will surprise the Flyers with a 20-0 victory in game 8.

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".

ummmmmmmmm

What? You think it will go to game 9? Are you serious?

no, i think 20-0 is unrealistic. I think its going to be 30-0, with Jake Evans getting a hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-hat-trick