On Thursday the NHL agreed to realignment that will take effect starting next season. The realignment will change the divisions from 6 to 4. Also the Eastern Conference will now have 16 teams with 2 divisions of 8 teams and the Western Conference will have 14 teams with 2 divisions of 7 teams. The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets will join the Eastern Conference. The Winnipeg Jets will join the Western Conference which makes sense since they moved out of Atlanta and into Winnipeg at the start of last season. The new division will be as followed.
The new divisions also make perfect sense for possible expansion. It has come up that Seattle and/or Quebec City wants a NHL team and with two less teams in the Western Conference Seattle and Quebec City can be added very easily without having to change the divisions and conference. The playoffs will still include 16 teams but teams will qualify differently. The top three teams in all four divisions are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. The other two teams for the conference can come from either division making it possible for one division to send five teams and the other to send three. The division champions will play the two "wild card" teams in the first round. The last thing is the division make sense more geographical now. This will reduce travel which teams wanted and intensify rivals. Also each team will play in all 30 arenas at least once a season. This has not happen since the 1997-98 season. As a fan I like these changes and I am excited to see how they work out starting next year.
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