I had originally came up with a 5 division alignment. Now I'm going to throw out all possibilities.
Simple Realignment
Atlanta moved to Winnipeg, but Winnipeg has remained in the Southeast Division. Move Winnipeg to the Northwest Division to be with Minnesota (435 miles away), Edmonton (817 miles), and Calgary (825 miles). Colorado can then move to the Pacific Division, and Dallas to the Central Division, and Nashville to the Southeast Division. That's easier than it sounds.
5 Division Alignment
6 teams in each division. It's a little different from my original plan.
| Smythe (West) | Norris (Central) | Campbell (Southeast) | Patrick (Atlantic) | Adams (North) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Chicago | Dallas | Washington | Columbus |
| Anaheim | Detroit | Nashville | Philadelphia | Toronto |
| Phoenix | Minnesota | St. Louis | New Jersey | Ottawa |
| San Jose | Winnipeg | Florida | NY Rangers | Montreal |
| Colorado | Edmonton | Tampa Bay | NY Islanders | Buffalo |
| Vancouver | Calgary | Carolina | Boston | Pittsburgh |
Schedule
Play 3 home-and-home series with each team in your division (30 games). Play 1 home-and-home series with each other team (48 games). Play 1 additional game against 1 team from each other conference. Do it based on prior season's standings, so the five 4th place teams each play one another one additional time. Let a formula and rotation dictate which teams host which other teams. Similar to the NFL's schedule formula. For example, let's say that the table above is the standings. Colorado would play an extra game against Edmonton, Tampa Bay, NY Islanders, and Buffalo; In addition to Colorado, Edmonton would also play Tampa Bay, NY Islanders, and Buffalo. And so on. That's a total of 82 games.
Playoffs
Since there's 5 divisions, there is no longer the concept of 2 Conferences (you can't split 5 divisions in half). So have a super-playoff of 16 teams, with 5 division winners being ranked among themselves 1-5 and 11 wild cards being ranked 6-16 (similar to each Conference's playoffs with 3 division winners and 5 wild cards).
Super-Conferences
Hear me out. Forget divisions. Just have 2 conferences of 15 teams each or 3 conferences of 10 teams each. Now, there are some possibilities here. You can go East/West. You can go North/Mid-America/South. You can go random/mixed and call it Wales/Campbell.
East/West
| East | West | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | Toronto | Anaheim | Los Angeles |
| Ottawa | Boston | San Jose | Vancouver |
| NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Phoenix | Colorado |
| New Jersey | Philadelphia | Calgary | Edmonton |
| Washington | Carolina | Winnipeg | Minnesota |
| Florida | Tampa Bay | Chicago | Detroit |
| Buffalo | Pittsburgh | St. Louis | Nashville |
| Columbus | Dallas | ||
Schedule
2 home-and-home series with each team in your conference (56 games). 1 home-and-home series with each team in the other conference (30 games). And either expand the season by 4 games (and probably 1 week in the calendar), or cut 4 non-conference games off the schedule.
Playoffs
Top 8 teams in each conference in the playoffs. From there, it's the same as it is today.
North/Mid-America/South
| North | Mid-America | South |
|---|---|---|
| Montreal | Boston | Florida |
| Ottawa | NY Islanders | Tampa Bay |
| Toronto | NY Rangers | Nashville |
| Buffalo | New Jersey | Dallas |
| Detroit | Philadelphia | Phoenix |
| Minnesota | Washington | Los Angeles |
| Winnipeg | Chicago | Anaheim |
| Calgary | Columbus | Colorado |
| Edmonton | Pittsburgh | St. Louis |
| Vancouver | San Jose | Carolina |
Schedule
3 home-and-home series within your conference (54 games). 1 home-and-home series outside your conference (20 games). 8 additional non-conference games to be split 2 home and 2 road in each of the other 2 divisions. 82 games total.
Playoffs
3 Conference winners and 13 wild card teams.
