How Many NHL Divisions are There?

How many NHL divisions are there? The NHL has 2 divisions, the Eastern and Western. Each division has 3 conferences with 5 teams in each conference.

NHL Basics

The NHL is made up of two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference is then split into three divisions. So, in total, there are six divisions in the NHL.

What is the NHL?

The NHL, or National Hockey League, is the premier professional ice hockey league in North America and consists of 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The Stanley Cup, puck Handling which is considered the most prestigious trophy in all of professional sports, is awarded to the team that wins the annual playoff tournament.

NHL teams are divided into 2 conferences: Eastern and Western. Each conference has 3 divisions: Atlantic, Metropolitan, and Central. Within each division, 5 teams are seeded 1-5 based on their regular season record. In the playoffs, the top 3 seeds from each division automatically qualify while 2 “wild card” spots are given to the next 2 best teams in each conference regardless of division.

The first 2 rounds of the playoffs are played within each division where the higher seed always plays at home. The winners of each division then advance to the conference finals to determine who will go to the Stanley Cup Finals.

How many teams are in the NHL?

how many teams are in the nhl
The National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference is further divided into three divisions. The Eastern Conference has the Atlantic Division, the Metropolitan Division, and the Central Division. The Western Conference has the Pacific Division, the Central Division, and the Northwest Division. As of the 2019-2020 season, there are 31 teams in the NHL, with 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada.

How many divisions are in the NHL?

The NHL is split into 2 divisions: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference is then split into 3 smaller divisions. In the Eastern Conference, these are the Atlantic Division, the Metropolitan Division, and the Central Division. In the Western Conference, these are the Pacific Division, the Northwest Division, and the Southeast Division.

The NHL’s Current Division Structure

The National Hockey League (NHL) is currently divided into two conferences, each containing two divisions. The Eastern Conference has the Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions, while the Western Conference has the Central and Pacific divisions. These divisions were introduced in 2013 as part of the NHL’s realignment process.

The Atlantic Division

The NHL’s Atlantic Division is made up of teams from the Eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada. The division was formed in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference’s realignment. It is currently composed of eight teams:

-Boston Bruins
-Buffalo Sabres
-Detroit Red Wings
-Florida Panthers
-Montreal Canadiens
-Ottawa Senators
-Tampa Bay Lightning
-Toronto Maple Leafs

The Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division is one of the four divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). The division was established at the beginning of the 2013–14 NHL season, when the NHL realigned its teams, and currently has eight members. These are the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

The Central Division

The National Hockey League’s Central Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference. The division currently has 7 teams: the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Winnipeg Jets.

The Pacific Division

The NHL’s Pacific Division was formed in 1993 as part of a league realignment. It is currently composed of seven teams: the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Vegas Golden Knights. With the addition of the Golden Knights in 2017, the Pacific Division became the first division in NHL history to have eight teams.

The Pacific Division champion has won the Stanley Cup on seven occasions: the Ducks in 2007, the Kings in 2012 and 2014, the Sharks in 2016, and the Flames in 1989, 1990, and 2004.

How the NHL’s Division Structure has Changed Over Time

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league consisting of 30 teams, divided equally between the Western and Eastern Conferences. The NHL’s current divisional structure was introduced prior to the 2013-14 season. As of 2020, there are four divisions in each conference: the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific.

The Original Six Era

In 1942, the NHL doubled in size from six to twelve teams with the addition of the Brooklyn Americans, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. As a result, the league was split into two divisions: the American Division (made up of the Americans, Blackhawks, Detroit, New York, and Rangers) and the Canadian Division (made up of the Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens).

The Expansion Era

In the NHL’s Expansion Era, which began in 1967, the league doubled in size from six to twelve teams. The Original Six era divisions (the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions) were dissolved, and the new teams were placed into two new six-team conferences: the West Division and the East Division. The conference names were dropped in 1974, leaving just the two divisions.

In 1980, with the addition of the Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques, the NHL realigned into four divisions:
-the Adams Division (Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Hartforrd Whalers, and Quebec Nordiques),
-the Norris Division (Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Minneapolis/St. Paul North Stars, and Pittsburgh Penguins),
-the Patrick Division (Atlanta Flames, Carolina Hurricanes (then the New England Whalers), New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Washington Capitals),
-and the Smythe Division (Calgary Flames now in Winnipeg Jets back then , Colorado Avalanche then Quebec Nordiques , Edmonton Oilers , Los Angeles Kings , Vancouver Canucks ).

The realignment lasted until 1993 when Quebec moved to Colorado and the NHL expanded by two teams (the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators). The league realigned into eastern and western conferences with three five-team divisions in each conference:
-the Atlantic Division (Florida Panthers , Montreal Canadiens , Ottawa Senators , Tampa Bay Lightning , Boston Bruins ),
-the Northeast Division (Buffalo Sabres , Hartford Whalers now Carolina Hurricanes , Montreal Canadiens , Ottawa Senators , Pittsburgh Penguins ),
-the Central Division (Chicago Blackhawks , Dallas Stars then Minnesota North Stars , Detroit Red Wings , St. Louis Blues )in the Western Conference;
-and finally for Eastern Conference we have
-(New York Islanders , New Jersey Devils then Colorado Rockies back then New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals Tampa Bay Lightning ) for Atlantic
-(Buffalo Sabres nowHttp://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/12/02/sabres win first game in more than a month/ (), Detroit Red Wings Hartford Whalers Now Carolina Hurricanes (), Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators (), Pittsburgh Pengiuns ()) for Northeast And finally CentralDivision includes

(Chicago Blackhawks Dallas Stars now Minnesota Wild Detroit Red Wings St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets back then Atlanta Flames)(Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks ) – In 1993 expansion Seattle metropolitans become Florida Panthers Vancouver metropolitans become Carolina Hurricanes ()

The Modern Era

Since the NHL’s expansion in 1967, the league has been split into two conferences with two divisions in each conference. The Eastern Conference has the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions, while the Western Conference has the Central and Pacific Divisions.

How the NHL’s Division Structure Could Change in the Future

The NHL currently has four divisions, each containing seven or eight teams. However, with the realignment of the league’s conferences and divisions that took place prior to the 2013-14 season, it’s possible that the number of divisions could change in the future. Let’s take a look at how the NHL’s division structure could change.

Potential Realignment Scenarios

The NHL’s divisional structure has remained relatively unchanged since the league’s expansion in 1967. However, there have been rumors in recent years that the league could consider realigning its divisions. There are a few different scenarios that have been proposed, and it’s unclear which one (if any) the NHL will ultimately decide to go with.

One scenario would involve creating two “super divisions” of eight teams each, which would be located in the Eastern and Western United States/Canada. These divisions would then be further divided into two four-team subsections. Each team would play every team in their division a total of four times per season.

Another scenario would add an additional division of seven or eight teams, most likely located in Canada. This would give the league a total of 32 teams, which would be evenly divided into four divisions of eight teams each. This scenario would likely involve some type of inter-divisional playoff format to determine who advances to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A third scenario would keep the NHL’s divisional structure largely unchanged, but would add a couple of additional teams to balance out the conference and divisional alignments. This could involve moving one or more teams from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference, or adding expansion teams in strategic locations.

What do you think? Do you like any of these potential realignment scenarios? Or do you think the NHL should keep its current divisional structure?

Potential New Divisions

The current NHL division structure was put in place starting with the 2013-14 season. Prior to that, the league had six divisions, which were unbalanced in terms of both the number of teams per division and the geographical location of the teams. The new system is much more balanced and logical, with two divisions in each conference and an equal number of teams in each division.

However, there are still some aspects of the current structure that are not ideal. For one thing, the fact that there are only two divisions in each conference means that there are a lot of teams in each division who are not realistically vying for a playoff spot. In addition, the geographical imbalance between the conferences means that some teams have a much easier time making the playoffs than others.

There have been rumors for a while now that the NHL is considering expanding to 32 teams, which would necessitate a change to the divisional structure. One possibility that has been floated is adding two more divisions, one in each conference. This would create four divisions with eight teams each, which would be much more balanced and would allow for more competitive playoffs.

Another possibility is to keep the same number of divisions but to realign them so that they are more geographicallThere is no clear consensus on what the best way to realign the divisions would be, but it is clear that something needs to be done in order to make the NHL more fair and competitive.

Conclusion

After doing some research, I have come to the conclusion that there are three NHL divisions. These are the Metropolitan, Atlantic, and Central divisions.