NHL Realignment: How Many Teams Are In?

The NHL is realigning its teams for the 2021-22 season, and there’s a lot of speculation about how many teams will be in each division. We break down the latest rumors and give our predictions for how the NHL realignment will shake out.

Introduction

NHL realignment has been a hot topic in the hockey world for years now. With the league’s expansion to 32 teams, the question of how many teams should be in each conference has been difficult to answer.

Some people believe that the league should be split evenly into two conferences of 16 teams, while others believe that the conference should be split into four divisions of 8 teams.

There is no easy answer, and the league has been debating this issue for some time now.

As of right now, it seems that the league is leaning towards a conference split into four divisions of 8 teams. This would give each team a chance to play every other team in their division at least four times during the regular season.

If this happens, it would be a major change for the NHL, and it would have a significant impact on the way the playoffs are structured.

We will have to wait and see what the NHL decides in the end, but it is certainly an exciting time for hockey fans.

Current NHL Alignment

The NHL is currently divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has three divisions, and each division has five teams. That means there are a total of 30 teams in the NHL.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) is a conference made up of 15 teams, as of the 2013-14 NHL season. These conferences and divisions were created at the start of the 1993-94 NHL season when the league realigned its teams into two conferences with two divisions each. The Eastern Conference comprises 14 teams located in the United States and one team located in Canada.

The Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals make up the Eastern Conference. As of the 2013-14 NHL season, all but three of these teams (the Bruins, Red Wings and Maple Leafs) are members of the Atlantic Division while the other three teams make up the Metropolitan Division.

Western Conference

The Western Conference (NHL) is a professional ice hockey conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). It consists of 15 teams in the United States and seven in Canada. The conference was formed as the Clarence Campbell Conference, named after Clarence Campbell, the third president of the NHL. It was one of two conferences that replaced the NHL’s original six-team divisional playoff format after the 1970–71 season with a four-team divisional playoff format and three-team pre-playoff qualifier. With the addition of Minnesota and Winnipeg in 1999, Nashville in 1998 and Columbus in 2000, Detroit in 1974 and Kansas City/Colorado/Denver in 1976, the conference has 16 teams.

In 2014, the NHL realigned its divisions into two conferences: The Eastern Conference would include 16 teams split into two divisions (Atlantic and Metropolitan), while The Western Conference would include 15 teams split into three divisions (Central, Pacific and Northwest).

Proposed NHL Alignment

As the NHL looks to realign its 30 teams into a more balanced and logistically friendly conference format, various plans have been put forth. The most common proposal seems to be a four-conference system with anywhere from 7 to 10 teams per conference. However, nothing has been finalized as of yet and the NHL has not released any official statement on the matter.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference is made up of 16 teams: the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Western Conference

If the NHL expands by two teams, as has been rumored, the most likely scenario is that one team would go to the Western Conference and one team would go to the Eastern Conference. This would keep an even number of teams in each conference, and it would also help to balance out the conferences a bit. right now, the West has 14 teams and the East has 16.

If the two expansion teams were added to the West, it is unlikely that they would be placed in the same division as their geographical rivals. For example, if Seattle were to get an expansion team, they would probably be placed in a different division than Vancouver or Calgary. The same goes for Quebec City if they were to get an expansion team; they would probably be placed in a different division than Montreal or Ottawa.

It is more likely that the two expansion teams would be placed in different divisions within their respective conferences. This would create more rivalries and more interesting matchups. It would also make sense from a geographical standpoint; for example, it wouldn’t make much sense to have Seattle in the same division as Boston or Tampa Bay.

How Many Teams Are In?

There are currently 31 teams in the NHL, but that number is expected to change in the near future. The NHL Board of Governors has been discussing realignment and there are a few different plans on the table. It is expected that the number of teams will be reduced to either 28 or 30.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference is made up of 16 teams, 8 in the Atlantic Division and 8 in the Metropolitan Division.

The Atlantic Division includes the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Metropolitan Division includes the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

Western Conference

The Western Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League (NHL), the other being the Eastern Conference. residue. It was originally formed in 1926 as the Campbell Conference, and has been known by its current name since 1974. The conference comprises 15 teams from across the United States and Canada, stretching from Seattle to Florida, and as far north as Edmonton.

Conclusion

After much discussion and debate, it appears that the NHL’s realignment plan will go into effect for the 2021-22 season. The biggest change is that the league will move back to a divisional format, with four divisions in the United States and three in Canada. Each division will have seven or eight teams.

The NHL has not yet released the full details of the plan, but it is believed that the Tampa Bay Lightning will move to the Central Division, while the Winnipeg Jets will shift to the West Division. The primary motivation for realignment is to reduce travel costs and increase competition.

It’s still early, but it looks like NHL realignment is happening. We’ll keep you updated as more details are released.