What Are The NHL Teams?

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

NHL Basics

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Founded in 1917, the NHL is the oldest professional sports league in North America. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

What is the NHL?

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 24 in the United States and 6 in Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

How many teams are in the NHL?

There are currently 31 teams in the NHL: 23 in the United States and 8 in Canada. The most recent expansion team is the Vegas Golden Knights, who began play in the 2017-18 season.

What are the NHL teams?

The National Hockey League, or NHL, is made up of 30 teams: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs make up the “Original Six.” These six teams have been around since the NHL’s inception in 1917. The other 24 teams are known as the “Expansion Teams.” The most recent expansion team is the Vegas Golden Knights, who began playing in the 2017-2018 season.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) is made up of 16 teams. The conference is split into two divisions, the Atlantic and the Metropolitan. The Atlantic Division consists of the following teams: the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Metropolitan Division consists of the following teams: the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Washington Capitals.

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division is a division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The division was created in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference’s realignment, and exists since the league’s expansion to 30 teams. It is also a successor to the Wales Conference’s Atlantic Division.

As part of this realignment, the NHL shifted two teams from the Adams Division (Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres) into the newly created Northeast Division, while moving both of its Canadian franchises (Montreal Canadiens and Ottowa Senators) into the Atlantic. The result was four new American-based teams in a division with three Canadian clubs.

Most of these earlier American entrants were former World Hockey Association (WHA) squads; while all of their Canadian rivals were established NHL franchises that had been members of either the Smythe or Norris Divisions prior to 1993. This led to some inequality in terms of experience and playoff success among divisional opponents over the next several years; with Original Six teams such as Montreal and Boston dominating play. As recently as 1999–2000, when all five Canadian clubs missed the playoffs, no U.S.-based team from this division qualified for post-season play.

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division is a division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The division was created in 2013 as part of the NHL’s realignment plan, which divided the league into two conferences with two divisions each, and has been the league’s most competitive division since its inception.

The division consists of eight teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C. It is by far the NHL’s most geographically diverse division; while all four Canadian divisions have all their teams located within Canada’s borders (albeit in different provinces), and all three California-based divisions have all their teams located within the state of California, no two teams in the Metropolitan Division are located within 500 miles (800 km) of each other.

The eight teams in the division are:
-New York Islanders
-New York Rangers
-Philadelphia Flyers
-Pittsburgh Penguins
-Carolina Hurricanes
-Columbus Blue Jackets
-New Jersey Devils
-Washington Capitals

Western Conference

The Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) is made up of 15 teams, 8 of which are in Canada. These are the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and the Arizona Coyotes.

Central Division

The Central Division of the National Hockey League (NHL) is composed of 7 teams, 6 of which are located in the United States and 1 in Canada. The division was created in 1993 as part of the Western Conference’s realignment, and its first season of competition was in 1994. It is also sometimes referred to as the “Central Division” or “Midwest Division”.

The Chicago Blackhawks are the most successful team in the division, having won 6 Stanley Cup championships. The Blackhawks have also won the Presidents’ Trophy (given to the team with the best regular season record) 3 times, more than any other team in the division.

Pacific Division

The Pacific Division is one of the three divisions of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Its teams are located in the westernmost part of the United States and Canada. The division was created prior to the 1993-94 NHL season as part of a realignment that saw the NHL add four teams and move five others.

The Pacific Division currently consists of seven teams: the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Vancouver Canucks. All seven teams qualified for the playoffs in 2014-15, with the Flames and Kings meeting in the first round.