NHL Returning to Winnipeg: Predicting How the NHL Will Realign Its Divisions

Now that the Atlanta Thrashers are officially moving to Winnipeg, the NHL has a lot of questions to answer.

One of the most pressing issues is how the sport will realign its divisions to account for this large geographic move.

The Thrashers are currently a part of the Southeast Division in the NHL's Eastern Conference, and will remain there next season and play Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Carolina six times each.

Naturally, this does not make sense in the long-term. It is a foregone conclusion that the team will be moved to the Western Conference due to the unfair disadvantage entailed by the necessity to travel to so often to its Eastern Conference destinations.

This logical switch would leave the Eastern Conference with a void left by the Thrashers and the Western conference with an extra team. So how is this all going to play out?

First of all: in which division will Winnipeg be placed?

Before the team moved in 1996, there were only two divisions in each conference, and Winnipeg played in the Central Division. Now that there are three divisions in each conference, it seems that Winnipeg would most logically be placed in the Northwest Division.

It is possible they could end up back in the Central Division, but the Northwest Division provides them some easy rivalries with other Canadian teams, something that I'm sure both the NHL and the new Winnipeg franchise will want.

So what will the Northwest Division look like? 

My guess is that the Northwest will look like this:  Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Minnesota, thus leaving the Colorado Avalanche as the "odd man out", so to speak.

So where will the Avalanche end up?  We'll address that in a moment.

Now that we have a good guess as to where Winnipeg will play, who will take their place in the Eastern Conference?

In my eye, there are three teams that fit the bill to replace Atlanta in the Eastern Conference.

First, the Detroit Red Wings could make a good addition to the Eastern Conference due to their original six history. The Red Wings have old rivalries with teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens that could be rekindled should they return to the east.

This could also save the Red Wings a decent amount in travel since they are already based in the eastern time zone and have to travel substantially to meet their Western Conference foes.

Saving money is attractive to all businesses in the current economy.

Second, the Columbus Blue Jackets might benefit from a change of scenery as they have never had much success in the Western Conference's Central Division. They are farther east than the Red Wings, and are only slightly farther north than Washington D.C., home to the would-be division rival Washington Capitals.

This change might benefit both Columbus and the Southeast Division by making both more competitive.

Third, and probably most sensibly, the Nashville Predators.

While Nashville does reside in the central time zone, it is also the team that is geographically closest to the Southeast region, which would make them a natural fit for that division.

Again, this relocation could save the team a ton of money in travel costs, and would fit them in another highly competitive division where they can continue to thrive.

In any of these three instances, the Central Division would be down by one team.

So who would fill this void?

The easiest fix would be to just move the Colorado Avalanche into the Central Division.

One could get more complex and move Dallas to the Central Division, and then the Avalanche to the Pacific Division, but that just seems unnecessary to me.

Here is my prediction as to the makeup of the divisions that will be affected when this move is all said and done:

Southeast Division; Eastern Conference.

Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Nashville Predators.

Northwest Division; Western Conference.

Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Franchise.

Central Division; Western Conference.

Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, and Colorado Avalanche.

These changes will not only help the teams with travel costs and renew existing natural rivalries, but will promote new rivalries based on geographic proximity.

I hope that I'm right about these predictions, but we'll have to wait until the 2012-2013 season to find out for sure.

Until then, we can only debate about what might happen. Let the debate begin!