Division Realignment

[Gjman2019]

I think the NHL should completely re-do the way the divisions are aligned. Mostly because it makes no sense how the two Florida teams are in a division with all north teams, geographically it doesn’t make sense. So I am proposing an 8 division set up, composed a 4 teams each. The playoffs would be the 4 division winners and 4 wildcards from any division, and then it would be seeded like how the NHL playoffs used to be. 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5. The top 4 would be the division winners placed according to their points, the remaining 4 would be those 4 wildcards also placed according to points. Here is the proposed divisions:

Western Conference

North West
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Seattle Kraken
- Vancouver Canucks

Pacific
- Anaheim Ducks
- Los Angeles King
- San Jose Sharks
- Vegas Golden Knights

South Central
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Nashville Predators

North Central
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Conference

South East
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Washington Capitals
- Tampa Bay Lightning

Metropolitan
- Buffalo Sabres
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Detroit Red Wings

Atlantic
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers

North East
- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs

Yes, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in different divisions, but if you look at a map, this does make sense, as Pitt is pretty far inland as opposed to Philly being right by the ocean. We do lose the Pittsburgh-Washington division rivalry, but I’m not sure who else could fit in that South East slot unless you change up things majorly.

Love it? Hate it? Think I’m an idiot? Let me know? Lol

Definitely not terrible..I've seen much worse ideas.

Where we differ is that i would like to see the first couple rounds of the playoffs be within the divisions ...I miss the regional rivalries i used to watch in the 80's when i was a little kid almost every year.......Some disagree and say it got repetitive but i don't feel that way.......

 

[Sabre the Win]

Alright, lets see

if we stick with 4 team 'pods'

Pod A
- Buffalo Sabres
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- New York Islanders

Pod B
- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Winnipeg Jets

Pod C
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota Wild
- Toronto Maple Leafs

Pod D
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Washington Capitals

Pod E
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Nashville Predators
- Tampa Bay Lightning

Pod F
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- St Louis Blues

Pod G
- Anaheim Ducks
- Las Vegas Knights
- Los Angeles Kings
- San Jose Sharks

Pod H
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Seattle Kraken
- Vancouver Canucks

Toronto is closer to drive to from Buffalo than New York and New Jersey, I don't think you quite grasp travel times or the OP's meaning behind the division realignments.. so many don't make sense especially for Eastern Conference teams nor did you take any account into time zones.. at all...

 

[Nikishin al Gaib]

Toronto is closer to drive to from Buffalo than New York and New Jersey, I don't think you quite grasp travel times or the OP's meaning behind the division realignments.. so many don't make sense especially for Eastern Conference teams nor did you take any account into time zones.. at all...

Quite frankly, there is one less team in the Northeast than you need and one too many team in the Southwest to make this perfect, so some compromises had to be made.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Seems like Gary likes having a bracket format, betting sites probably as well.

 

[StreetHawk]

Fair question.

So those are geographical pods that, for the most part, try to promote as many regional rivalries as possible.

Regarding playoffs, you bring in the top 2 finishers of each Pod. They play each other in the first round. From there, you re-seed the entire playoffs based on league standings. The bracket with the 1st seed plays for one trophy, the bracket with the 2nd seed plays for the other.

Regarding scheduling, play each team in your Pod 3 home and 3 away (18 games). The remainder of the schedule is filled with home and aways against everyone else (56 games), with an additional home or away against 2 other pods (8 games), which rotate annually. That gets you to 82 games.

So TB would not make the PO since they were behind fla and Car. And one of Car/Fla would be out of round 1 for sure? That’s the main issue of having round 1 be division based in a 4 team Pod.

Bigger division helps to eliminate the variances between the strength of each POD.

In an 8 team divisional format for rounds 1&2;
Nash would be out in favour of LV in the pacific. Cal would have gotten LV. Col would have gotten Dal. Everything else the same out west.

East. Bos and Fla would have played and Was and Car would have played instead.

 

[Fulmination]

Time zones are the losing issue with this alignment. You have Arizona, Colorado, Dallas and Nashville in the same division and in 3 different time zone. Talk about annoying for players and fans to watch the games.

 

[egelband]

I think the NHL should completely re-do the way the divisions are aligned. Mostly because it makes no sense how the two Florida teams are in a division with all north teams, geographically it doesn’t make sense. So I am proposing an 8 division set up, composed a 4 teams each. The playoffs would be the 4 division winners and 4 wildcards from any division, and then it would be seeded like how the NHL playoffs used to be. 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5. The top 4 would be the division winners placed according to their points, the remaining 4 would be those 4 wildcards also placed according to points. Here is the proposed divisions:

Western Conference

North West
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Seattle Kraken
- Vancouver Canucks

Pacific
- Anaheim Ducks
- Los Angeles King
- San Jose Sharks
- Vegas Golden Knights

South Central
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Nashville Predators

North Central
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Conference

South East
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Washington Capitals
- Tampa Bay Lightning

Metropolitan
- Buffalo Sabres
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Detroit Red Wings

Atlantic
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers

North East
- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs

Yes, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in different divisions, but if you look at a map, this does make sense, as Pitt is pretty far inland as opposed to Philly being right by the ocean. We do lose the Pittsburgh-Washington division rivalry, but I’m not sure who else could fit in that South East slot unless you change up things majorly.

Love it? Hate it? Think I’m an idiot? Let me know? Lol

It’s a really good. Not sure I like the divisions so small but maybe this the lesser of two evils in that respect. Either way I think re-alignment is a good idea and this proposal looks right to me. Might need to give some consideration to expansion/relocation.

 

[egelband]

Time zones are the losing issue with this alignment. You have Arizona, Colorado, Dallas and Nashville in the same division and in 3 different time zone. Talk about annoying for players and fans to watch the games.

Good point. Maybe Nashville can be repositioned.

 

[JAK]

Expand to 42 teams, home and home, no divisions, no conferences.

82 games. Top 16 goes to playoffs, 1 v 16.

All Leafs games are on Saturdays at 7pm EST, period. Each season lasts 2 years.

There, I think I have managed to piss off everyone.

 

[1865]

I don't care how we get there, but the play-offs should be 1 v 16

If you're going to insist on 82 games, at least make it legitimately mean something. It would also lead to more interesting cup finals.

 

[jetsforever]

That sucks for Washington to get stuck with 3 random southern teams rather than its classic rivals
Also not great for Pittsburgh to get separated from the Metro teams

 

[saskriders]

The way I see it to keep rivalries together the smallest number of teams you could have in a division is 6. By my views of what rivalries are (which obviously is from a prospective of a Canadian and Sens fan):


Ottawa can't be separated from Toronto or Montreal, and arguably Buffalo.
Montreal can't be separated from Boston, and shouldn't be separated from Toronto.
Toronto reinforces keeping Buffalo in the division, has recent history with Boston, and a rivalry with Detroit.
Buffalo can't be separated from Boston or Toronto and has history with Ottawa.
Boston can't be separated from Montreal, and should be in with Buffalo and Toronto.
Detroit has to be in the east and can't be with Chicago, Toronto is by far the next best choice.

Pittsburgh has to be with Philly and Washington
Philadelphia has to be with Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and the Rangers.
Washington has to be with Pittsburgh and has history with the Islanders
NYR has to be with Philly and the other NYC teams
NYI has to be with NYR and has history with Washington
New Jersey has to be with NYR and Philly

Chicago has to be with St Louis, and is probably the best rival for the Preds
St. Louis has to be with Chicago and Minnesota
Minnesota has to be with St Louis and Colorado
Colorado has to be with Minnesota
Nashville has to be with Chicago

Calgary has to be with Edmonton and Vancouver
Edmonton has to be with Calgary
Vancouver has to be with Calgary and Seattle
Seattle has to be with Vancouver

Vegas has to be with San Jose
San Jose has to be with Vegas and the California teams
Anaheim has to be with the California teams
LA has to be with the California teams

Florida has to be with Tampa
Tampa had to be with Florida

Carolina has less strong rivalries than most. Washington may be their biggest, and that would be the above group they fit best with.

Columbus is the same story as Carolina except with Pittsburgh being the biggest rival

Winnipeg had their big rivalries with the Alberta teams back in the day, but the current league wants to keep teams in the same time zone more together. They can't be with a Vancouver/Seattle two hours different. Their natural fit is the Minnesota division

Dallas I would imagine their biggest rival is probably Nashville. But like Winnipeg even if they don't have big rivalries with Minnesota and Chicago and the like they fit in time zone wise.

Arizona is probably the most flexible team. They haven't really built any rivalries as far as I'm aware. They are also on mountain time (no dst though) and for most of the season would be only an hour different from everyone in the west.


The biggest of these can't separate groups is 6. With 4 team divisions you are forced to break up some big rivalries and/or take a team or two away from their biggest rivals to throw it with some randoms.

I was a big proponent of going back to divisional playoffs and still am. I do see some merit in wanting even more rivalries since a decent chunk of current potential matchups aren't rivalries. However I think it is just not possible to do it with such small divisions. Add in the fact that smaller divisions make it more likely to have week and strong divisions and it is harder to justify who should be in the playoffs.

 

[beakerboy]

I always laugh whenever I see threads saying how people want the NHL to go back to 1-8 because that's how it used to be.

Forget the wild card. I want to go back to straight 1-4 in each division.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

The only alignment that I'd personally be interested in would be in Chicago being put in the East, but as that's obviously not happening I don't really care if the NHL keeps it at 8 teams per division or moves to an NFL-style 4 teams per division format. That being said, the NHL seemingly went out of its way to set up this current format, so I'm not expecting it to change any time soon no matter what.

I'd rather see the NHL pressured into going back to a straight 1-8 playoff format (or, more preferably but infinitely less likely, 1-16).

 

[OlfactoryHughes]

How does a division featuring Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, and Columbus get the name Metropolitan?

How does any division get called the metropolitan division…. Awful name…. And makes no sense as far as naming things geographically. Aren’t all of the teams in the nhl in a metropolitan area of their state?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

How does any division get called the metropolitan division…. Awful name…. And makes no sense as far as naming things geographically. Aren’t all of the teams in the nhl in a metropolitan area of their state?

Buffalo's not a part of the Metro.... has always been the Atlantic

 

[John Mandalorian]

I applaud the effort but the whole point of this is to play teams in your region more often? What happens when you have a division with 3 horrible teams for a sustained period of time and the "top" teams benefits from it (similar to the Patriots with the AFC East for many years)?

Having more teams makes it more difficult for this type of thing to happen. It's better that a good team plays NHLs version of the Ravens or Steeler just as often as they play the Jets.

 

[StreetHawk]

I applaud the effort but the whole point of this is to play teams in your region more often? What happens when you have a division with 3 horrible teams for a sustained period of time and the "top" teams benefits from it (similar to the Patriots with the AFC East for many years)?

Having more teams makes it more difficult for this type of thing to happen. It's better that a good team plays NHLs version of the Ravens or Steeler just as often as they play the Jets.

Or conversely 3 great teams like TB, Fla and Car and 1 doesn’t make the PO since you are only taking the top 2 per division.

Agree that larger divisions prevent this. 8 per division is fine. I wouldn’t mind if they made it top 4 in division only. No 1 vs 8. Travel matters especially in the West.

 

[AvroArrow]

This will end up worse than the current format. Just go back to 1-8, why do people wanna make it so complicated.

 

[Left handed]

The 4 team division has been talked about before by the NHL. I really think it's a matter of time before it happens.

With 32 teams, it makes sense.

 

[WeatherBeaten]

I think the NHL should completely re-do the way the divisions are aligned. Mostly because it makes no sense how the two Florida teams are in a division with all north teams, geographically it doesn’t make sense. So I am proposing an 8 division set up, composed a 4 teams each. The playoffs would be the 4 division winners and 4 wildcards from any division, and then it would be seeded like how the NHL playoffs used to be. 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5. The top 4 would be the division winners placed according to their points, the remaining 4 would be those 4 wildcards also placed according to points. Here is the proposed divisions:

Western Conference

North West
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Seattle Kraken
- Vancouver Canucks

Pacific
- Anaheim Ducks
- Los Angeles King
- San Jose Sharks
- Vegas Golden Knights

South Central
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Nashville Predators

North Central
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Conference

South East
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Washington Capitals
- Tampa Bay Lightning

Metropolitan
- Buffalo Sabres
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Detroit Red Wings

Atlantic
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers

North East
- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs

Yes, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in different divisions, but if you look at a map, this does make sense, as Pitt is pretty far inland as opposed to Philly being right by the ocean. We do lose the Pittsburgh-Washington division rivalry, but I’m not sure who else could fit in that South East slot unless you change up things majorly.

Love it? Hate it? Think I’m an idiot? Let me know? Lol

New Jersey (the State, not the team) disagrees with the bolded.

 

[Left handed]

This will end up worse than the current format. Just go back to 1-8, why do people wanna make it so complicated.

Divisions are used to create rivalries. Division teams are typically geographically close together for travel purposes. Traditionally, division opponents play each other more than other teams in the conference, and the rest of the league.

As someone else mentioned upthread, I'd be in favor of the top 2 teams from every division making the playoffs. The four divisions winners would be start the playoffs as the home team. And from there, the teams would be re-seeded based on record/winning pct. The first round of the playoffs would be classified as the "Divisional Round". Then the Conference Semi-Finals. Then the Conference Finals. And finally the Stanley Cup Championship.

 

[Left handed]

The biggest of these can't separate groups is 6. With 4 team divisions you are forced to break up some big rivalries and/or take a team or two away from their biggest rivals to throw it with some randoms.

I don't agree with that entirely. Sure, it's typical that division rivals play each other the most. But conference rivalries will play each other second most. And the NHL has always had an inter-conference schedule, so all teams would play each other at least once or twice per year.

 

[Left handed]

Why not use division realignment for scheduling purposes only, and go back to the top-8 playoff bracket per conference?

 

[StreetHawk]

Why not use division realignment for scheduling purposes only, and go back to the top-8 playoff bracket per conference?

Why go so heavy on divisional play if your playoff matchups are going to be top 8?

I think the central and pacific time zone teams hate having to play one another in the opening rounds. Just more added travel.

Just leave it at 4 divisions of 8 and let them play within the division for rounds 1&2.