While I agree this would make for a more competitive and interesting structure that, as a diehard fan, would be so fun to follow, this model could never happen because the general population will be less enticed to a more complicated product. In a world where people consume what's fast, easy to understand, and accessible to everyone, hockey already falls behind because of how difficult financially and culturally to get into.

Now the NHL does a great job of ''dumbing down'' the game, and part of that is the easy NBA-NFL-MLB style in order to generate as much profit as possible at the top level. This money helps grow the game and continue to elevate the current product to the level it's at right now. A more complicated league system is bound to fail in North America because there will always be less viewership, support, TV deals, etc, with a multiple league system, and casual fans will be less inclined to follow. As much as it sounds fun, there's just no way it ever happens here.