New York, NY

The NHL will have four divisions and a new setup for the Stanley Cup playoffs next season after the league's Board of Governors approved the proposed realignment plan.

With the plan, the league will be realigned into a more geographically appropriate two-conference, four-division format that features 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 teams in the Western Conference.

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are moving to the Eastern Conference to play a majority of their games against teams in the same time zone.

For the same reason, the plan has moved the Winnipeg Jets are moving to the Western Conference. The Dallas Stars will remain in the Western Conference but move into a division that includes five other teams from the Central time zone.

Sixteen teams will still make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, eight from each conference, but it will now be division-based and a wild-card system has been added.

The top three teams in each division will make-up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season points and regardless of division.

It will be possible, then, for one division to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends three.

The seeding of the wild-card teams within each divisional playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points.

The division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lowest number of points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second fewest points.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will play in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of each series will play for berths in the Conference Championship series.

The two divisional champions in each conference will then play in the conference finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

The divisions will be temporarily referred to as Division A, Division B, Division C and Division D. Permanent names will be assigned later.

Division A and Division B belong to the Western Conference while Division C and D, with eight teams each, make up the Eastern Conference.

Division A includes the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks.

Division B features the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.

Division C has the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will join the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in Division D.

The new alignment ensures that all 30 teams play in all 30 arenas at least once per season.

The National Hockey League Players' Association has given its consent to play under the new Alignment and Playoff System for a minimum of three seasons, through the 2015-16 NHL season.

 

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NHL Approves Realignment Plan for Next Season