By Patrick Kelly
With deadlines approaching as the NHL prepares to try and start in January, some more information has started to come out. Wednesday afternoon, Pierre LeBrun of TSN in Canada tweeted out what the current four division realignment looks like.
Not finalized yet, and still subject to change, but the 2020-21 four-division re-alignment currently looks like this according to sources:
Bos-Buf-NJ-NYI-NYR-Pha-Pgh-Was
Car-CBJ-Det-Chi-Fla-Min-Nas-TB
Ana-Ari-Col-Dal-LA-SJ-STL-VGK
All-Canadian teams
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 9, 2020
The first thing that will stay intact is the Canadian Division, made up of all seven Canadian teams from Vancouver to Montreal in what should be one of the highlights of the shortened season. Another rumor circulating is that the league is looking at a 56-game schedule, according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.
From an NHL team exec this monrning, FWIW: "NHL is season is starting Jan 13th. Confirmed last night. We are going to be playing 56 games."
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 8, 2020
With the current alignment that has been rumored, the Blues will be doing a lot of traveling. The closest teams in their division are the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars with all other teams being on the west coast. Along with this comes a very tough season in this division. If they stay as is, the top four teams in the Western Conference last year will all be in the same division with endless storylines from the Stars looking to get revenge after falling short in the Final, to Alex Pietrangelo having to see his old club several times throughout the year.
While all this is starting to come out, the NHL and NHLPA have yet to approve anything. With the dates being rumored for camp Jan. 3 with a January 13 start, the league doesn’t have much time to get everything set in stone.
