Paul Bissonnette Passionate About NHL Calendar Cutback

Paul Bissonnette is taking a slap shot at the NHL’s grueling schedule ... saying the league might be pushing players too far -- and he’s got a plan to fix it.

Biz tells TMZ Sports he’s not holding his breath waiting for league bosses to agree ... but he’s still throwing the idea out there.

“I don’t think they’re going to listen to me," he told us before the Super Bowl at SI The Party. "We just talk for conversation, but I think it would be cool if they would consider in years where they’re doing best on best to just draw it back a little bit.”

Bissonnette says trimming the season to 76 games wouldn’t just look cleaner ... it could seriously reduce travel chaos and brutal back-to-back matchups.

“Because if they do 76, that’s 6 less than what they’re doing currently. I think that makes a huge difference in not having to play back-to-backs, travel ... and also how you set up how much conference play you’re having versus non-conference.”

But Biz isn’t done chirping.

He also wants the NHL to ditch its current playoff format and bring back the old 1-through-8 seeding ... arguing teams that dominate the regular season deserve a real edge once the playoffs start.

“You’re going to put them through this hard gauntlet of 76 or even 82 games … and now next year they’re moving to 84 games. Make earning a higher seed mean that much more.”

He also hinted the league may be stuck in neutral ... not because change isn’t smart, but because it’s inconvenient and other factors, such as arena availability, come into play.