NHL Modifies Realignment Proposal

CBC's Elliotte Friedman reports new plan being considered

Over the weekend, Elliotte Freidman reported a new NHL realignment proposal is on the table. He talked about modifications made to last year's proposal on Hockey Night in Canada's Hoststove Tonight segment.

For those of us who are more visual, I've put together the map above to show you what the new proposal would look like. The big takeaways from this report:

• Detroit and Columbus would now get to play more road games in the eastern time zone.
• Should the Coyotes end up moving to Seattle, there'd be no need for realignment.
• However, there's no room in the east for any expansion to Quebec or Toronto.
• The majority of the Original 6 is reunited in Conference 2 with Detroit, Toronto, Montreal and Boston all grouped  together.
• Of course, Tampa Bay and Florida are still lumped into the Canadian conference for some reason.
• Poor Columbus. From a division with Chicago and Detroit to one with the Penguins, Flyers and Rangers. These guys can't win. I mean, literally, they cannot win hockey games. Why?

Friedman also said the league is exploring a wild card format for the 8-team divisions. This is because teams in the larger conferences are at a slight disadvantage when it comes to making the playoffs. So we might see a situation where the No. 4 and 5 seeds in Conferences 1 and 2 square off for that fourth playoff spot.

I'm curious to see everyone's take on the new proposal. Here's a question, though. How should the conferences be named? Certainly not by names or letters. Should the league stick with its geographical names or go back to naming them after key people in NHL history?

Comments

[mattman2900]

Supposedly it's actually four divisions, two in each conference is what I'm hearing and seeing. 7 & 7 in the Western Conference and 8 & 8 in the Eastern Conference. Three days ago it was the top three teams in each division get in and then two wildcard in each conference, and Seed No. 1 would play Seed No. 8, etc. Then yesterday I heard that it was divisional playoffs.

It's really confusing. According to the latest reports there will be two conferences: Eastern and Western. That doesn't change. So that's good. What does change is the teams and divisions. In each Conference, there will be two divisions. Names are currently geographical, but they could change (Florida and Tampa Bay in the "Northeast" Division is going to bug some fans).

WESTERN Pacific Division (From Map Above: Conference 4)
Vancouver
Edmonton
Calgary
San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Phoenix

WESTERN Central Division (From Map Above: Conference 3)

Winnipeg
Minnesota
Colorado
Chicago
St. Louis
Nashville
Dallas

EASTERN Northeast (From Map Above: Conference 2)
Boston
Buffalo
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Detroit
Tampa Bay
Florida

EASTERN Atlantic (From Map Above: Conference 1)
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Columbus
Washington
Carolina

I'm not sure it really matters if they go with divisions or conferences, except in terms of the type of playoff the NHL prefers. While it seems pretty much set at this time that it will be East/West Conferences with two divisions each, they really seem divided on Conference or divisional playoffs.

personally I'll take either at the moment. Part of me sides with divisional playoffs because it would make for great rivalries. However, part me also understands that the top team in the conference should be matched with the lowest seeded team in the conference. Not to mention I think the more important aspect in any case is rewarding the top teams in each division. If they go with the Divisional playoffs, what happens if the top team in the division ends up facing a sub .500 team? Do you want to reward a team with a losing record a playoff spot? Granted it could happen in the conference playoff set up as well, but I think there might be more ways to correct it if it does happen. One solution could be that if a division does not have a enough teams to qualify for playoffs (.500 or better) then the next best team(s) from the other conference are matched with the crossing division accordingly. Example (Divisional Playoff):

For argument sake say that you must be at least .500 record to be eligible for playoffs regardless division.

Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto are eligible and qualify for the playoffs in the Northeast division. Rest of division is not eligible.

New York Rangers, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh qualify for the playoffs. While New Jersey is eligible but is 5th in the division.

My Solution: You slide NJ into a spot in the NE division.

NORTHEAST Matchups:
#1 Red Wings vs #4 Devils
#2 Canadiens vs #3 Maple Leafs

ATLANTIC Matchups:
#1 Rangers vs #4 Penguins
#2 Bruins vs #3 Flyers