4-2 but Flyers. Briere gets at least one. Sabres are walking wounded - even more so that they Flyers now. Philly's 3rd and 4th line are stronger than the Sabres. 1st line is probably too with a health Giroux and Jagr.
I didn't like the playoff setup either. You limit the number of teams you could possibly face in first two rounds. You had 14 teams you could face in the first round and 7 in the second round. Now it's 6 teams in the first and 3 in the second. As you said the chances of Philly vs Boston & Chicago vs Vancouver are much more rare. 2 Conferences and 4 Divisions. Maybe you will see contraction to 14 and 14 with phoenix and dallas gone down the road. Panthers up north with either Tampa or Cains.
I like the 4 divisions although I'm not sure the NHL would move that many teams around. Having the season shorter and the playoffs end earlier is also advantageous. Being a Flyers fan that the "A" division looks great. As I said in the shoutbox about your blog - that would develop some serious hate between those teams. Although it's probably unlikely I like the layout and would be in favor or it.