Which teams will benefit or be hurt by a division realignment

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

So it sounds like the all Canadian division is all but a sure thing, that means every division is getting changed.

So who will benefit and who will struggle because of the change?

Click to read more...

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Hfboards will suffer the most from an all Canadian division. I can't imagine the insane hostility between Western Canadian and Leaf fans when they actually play each other.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Buffalo will have a rough ride. A Pacific Division team would likely benefit the most. Vancouver would have the greatest time zone advantage.

 

[Cor]

Leafs will benefit being away from Tampa Bay and Boston.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Buffalo will have a rough ride. A Pacific Division team would likely benefit the most. Vancouver would have the greatest time zone advantage.

I agree Buffalo would be in a division with Tampa Boston, Both New York teams Philadelphia and either Washington or NJ.

It won't be good for them.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Leafs will benefit being away from Tampa Bay and Boston.

Agreed I think they win the Canadian division

 

[holy]

Agreed I think they win the Canadian division

You started the Tampa Bay is done thread last season right?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

You started the Tampa Bay is done thread last season right?

I never said they were done, and even if I had, I'm not sure what that has to do with Toronto winning an all Canadian division

 

[Hobocop]

Buffalo will have a rough ride. A Pacific Division team would likely benefit the most. Vancouver would have the greatest time zone advantage.

I initially thought the Pacific teams would benefit, but wouldn't it be likely we'd wind up in a division with the nearest central teams- Colorado and Dallas, for starters?

 

[Roadhouse]

Toronto's Steve Dangle podcast today thinks the Leafs would be at the top, "marginally". And that the degree of separation between the remaining 5 teams (sorry Ottawa) is minimal.

I think we would see some epic matchups. It's hard to predict which team matches up best with the rest of the division, considering we're looking at anywhere between 6 to 12 games between the same teams for the entire division. Styles make fights as they say in boxing.

 

[JT Kreider]

Vegas benefits greatly potentially. Some mix of Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton are the next best teams in the Pacific.

It will be Vegas, Arizona, LA, San Jose, Anaheim and one other team from the Central, probably Dallas?

They're going to clean up that division and will be the division winner with the most points/separation.

 

[thestonedkoala]

St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado. That's going to be a blood bath. Even with the 'Hawks rebuilding, and the Wild and the Preds in transition, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado are going to be tough teams to face. And I wouldn't discount the Hawks, Preds or the Wild having a sneaky good season simply because they are good teams that have some holes.

 

[780il]

Canadian division is gonna have everyone north of the border at each other’s throats. Not just on the ice...

 

[Mickey Marner]

I initially thought the Pacific teams would benefit, but wouldn't it be likely we'd wind up in a division with the nearest central teams- Colorado and Dallas, for starters?

Yes, I mean one Pacific Division team. Colorado, Dallas and Vegas look like locks, but that leaves one of Anaheim, Arizona, Los Angeles Minnesota and San Jose (none of which look very good) as a playoff team.

 

[jeffff]

Agreed I think they win the Canadian division

They were 7 and 7 in 14 games last year. 5 of those wins were in 5 games against Vancouver and Ottawa. Only 2 wins in 9 games against Edm, Mtl, Winnipeg and Calgary

 

[SlafCaufield]

Habs! Great additions this offseason and no more Tampa bay

 

[Iapyi]

Depends how the division are aligned if this is what ends up happening.

As for an All-Canadian division it depends on how many game are within the division and how many are out of the division [if any].

Teams like Ottawa and Montreal and quite frankly all Canadian teams have a tendency to bring their best games against Toronto. Whether that stays the same if they're playing each 10ish times remains to be seen.

The NHL has a tendency to do some pretty stupid things in an effort to appease casual and\or part-time fans making it hard to make any concrete assertions at this juncture in time.

 

[FissionFire]

Whichever division gets to pick up Detroit is the real winners. Garbage team they can feast on for easy points and a proven box office draw to help the attendance numbers (when they start allowing fans into the arenas).

 

[playasRus]

Could help Ottawa secure another top 3 draft as they don't have anyone to dummy points off of in the Canadian division.

 

[themelkman]

Sharks will be hurt for sure. The pacific is weak and losing the alberta teams and vancouver and replacing them with actual cup contenders is not good.

 

[Cotton]

They were 7 and 7 in 14 games last year. 5 of those wins were in 5 games against Vancouver and Ottawa. Only 2 wins in 9 games against Edm, Mtl, Winnipeg and Calgary

The Leafs also went through the Babcock drama and had injuries to several key players. You know, context.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Canadian division is gonna have everyone north of the border at each other’s throats. Not just on the ice...

Oh, not at all - it will still be on ice. Just not on the rink.

 

[JianYang]

It's gonna suck for Vancouver and Winnipeg who have nobody else in their timezone to play. It's worse for Vancouver though IMO.

 

[KidLine93]

The Leafs also went through the Babcock drama and had injuries to several key players. You know, context.

You guys told us Babcock was the best coach in the world and would turn you guys into contenders. Whats the new excuse?

 

[aufheben]

Can someone post like...what the divisions would be?