3 NHL Teams Benefiting the Least From Realignment

Last week, I jumped head first into the NHL’s plans to realign their divisions for the upcoming 2019-20 season.

After I ranked the proposed divisions, I identified three teams that were set to benefit the most from the new-look setup.

However, within Sunday’s announcement between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association outlining the framework for the 2020-21 season, came some alterations to what we saw as the proposed realignment look last week.

In fact, I identified the Minnesota Wild as one team that stood to benefit from playing in what I ranked as the worst of the four divisions, however it turns out the Wild will play in the “West” Division alongside some stiffer competition, namely the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights. Previously, it appeared they had shook the Avs and Blues from their Central Division, but not the case anymore.

Nonetheless, as a reminder, here are the four realigned divisions for the 2020-21 NHL season.

2020-21 NHL Division Realignment

North Division

Calgary Flames – Vancouver Canucks – Edmonton Oilers – Winnipeg Jets – Ottawa Senators – Toronto Maple Leafs – Montreal Canadiens

East Division

Boston Bruins – Buffalo Sabres – New Jersey Devils – New York Islanders – New York Rangers – Philadelphia Flyers – Pittsburgh Penguins – Washington Capitals

Central Division

Carolina Hurricanes – Chicago Blackhawks – Columbus Blue Jackets – Dallas Stars – Detroit Red Wings – Florida Panthers – Nashville Predators – Tampa Bay Lightning

West Division

Anaheim Ducks – Arizona Coyotes – Colorado Avalanche – Los Angeles Kings – Minnesota Wild – San Jose Sharks – St. Louis Blues – Vegas Golden Knights

Now, let’s check in on three teams who stand to benefit the least from the divisional realignment, knowing that regular-season play will be strictly intradivision this season.

3 NHL Teams Benefiting the Least From Realignment

Buffalo Sabres

Most of the teams from the Atlantic Division made out fairly well in the realignment. I listed the Maple Leafs as a team that stands to benefit the most as they are North Division favorites at +225 and managed to shake the powerhouse Lightning and Bruins in the process.

The Canadiens and Senators will follow the Leafs to the balanced all-Canadian Division, the Lightning are seemingly going to run roughshod in the Central while the Panthers – despite a lacklustre offseason – could seemingly fare well in the Central, a division I believe is the worst of the four.

And then there’s the Sabres. Not only did they get thrown into a group alongside the murderer’s row that was largely the Metropolitan Division, but they brought the Bruins with them!

Come on, man.

This comes after the Sabres enjoyed a productive offseason and certainly felt well about themselves, appeasing superstar Jack Eichel in the process.

Of course, new general manager Kevyn Adams landed the top free-agent forward on the market in Taylor Hall, giving him a dynamite one-two punch alongside Eichel. However, the team also shored up the center ice position by adding veterans Eric Staal and Cody Eakin to the mix.

That angle though?! 😯

Jack Eichel’s @NewWaveEnergyCo power-play goal ties us up 2-2!#Sabres50 pic.twitter.com/oOXIXAIJ6F

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 10, 2019

It also seemed to be the year – and still could be – where 20-year-old Rasmus Dahlin could make some noise in the Norris Trophy conversation after taking major steps forward through his first two seasons in the league.

Finally, the organization certainly felt good about how 27-year-old Linus Ullmark performed for the bulk of last season with a solid 2.69 GAA and .915 Sv% while Carter Hutton is a fine rebound candidate this season.

Taking on the Lightning and Bruins in the Atlantic wasn’t going to be easy, and I’m <a href=”“>quite bullish on the Maple Leafs for next season as well, but there’s little doubt that the Sabres lined up in the weaker of the two Eastern Conference divisions. Not anymore.

Now, the Sabres bring the powerhouse Bruins – although a regression candidate – to a division that dominated the Stanley Cup futures board. It was easy to tell that the Metro was the best division in the league with seven of its eight teams sporting serious postseason aspirations, the Devils being the lone exception.

Arguably the worst two teams in the division are now in the Central in the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets, but the Capitals, Flyers, Penguins, Islanders and Rangers are serious postseason threats. Remember, four teams from each division make the playoffs, and when you add in the Bruins, it certainly appears as if the Sabres enter the season ranked ahead of only New Jersey. The sportsbooks tend to agree as BetOnline has the Sabres seventh with +1000 East Division odds with New Jersey last at +1600.

In an offseason that brought so much hope, the NHL’s realignment was not a favorable switch for the Buffalo Sabres.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins have been a playoff team in 11 of the last 13 seasons. In other words, they’re nearly always competitive and are coming off a Presidents’ Trophy from last season when they led the NHL with a .714 winning percentage (44-14-12).

However, like the Sabres, the Bruins have shifted to the Metropolitan 2.0 division where they will face far stiffer competition than they would have if they remained in the Atlantic.

Its been the Bruins and Lightning as the top two teams in the Atlantic in each of the last three seasons, and there was a case to be made that history would repeat itself again this time around.

That said, I was cautioning regression even before the alignment came to fruition.

The most notable aspect to the Bruins’ 2020-21 outlook is the fact that they could be without both Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak to start the season. Marchand is possible to return on time from sports hernia surgery in mid September that came along with a four-month recovery and a mid-January return. Cam Neely told the media that Marchand is back on the ice.

Neely also said that Pastrnak is back in Boston, but he’s not skating yet. The 48-goal man from last season underwent hip surgery on Sept. 16 with an expected five-month recovery period that would peg his return sometime in mid-February.

David Pastrnak (@pastrnak96) is leading the League in goals with some comfort after this @Enterprise hat trick. pic.twitter.com/MC4pqswpVx

— NHL (@NHL) November 27, 2019

Sometimes, it’s not about how you start but how you finish – and both bodies will play most of the season – but a slow start in a truncated 56-game season will be magnified.

Keep in mind the team lost power play anchor Torey Krug to the St. Louis Blues in free agency while the team awaits word on long-time captain Zdeno Chara’s plans for next season. With the season’s framework in place, a Chara decision could come soon.

All that said, the Bruins probably would have fared just fine in the Atlantic. I predicted a third-place finish for the club in my <a href=”“>Bruins Season Preview, but you couldn’t have ruled them out for a first or second-place finish given their competitive nature.

Within the newly formed East Division, however, a route towards a postseason berth is much foggier. As noted, the Capitals, Flyers and Penguins are good bets to earn a spot while the Islanders can’t be ruled out, either. The Rangers are a team certainly on the rise and the Sabres have also improved. Save for the Devils, there is major competition in that division.

The Bruins are +250 to win the East Division, but I’m not sure I see it that way for a banged up Bruins team that could be without two critically important defenseman from their glory years last decade.

Minnesota Wild

So last week, I had the Wild as a team that stood to benefit from realignment, however I’m not so sure now that they’ve been placed in the West Division.

Don’t get be wrong, I’m still bullish on their outlook given their stout defensive work from last season with their strong defensive corps still in place for next season, although with a far superior goaltending outlook.

However, I sure as heck liked their chances more in a division that was largely mediocre behind the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Wild and Stars switching spots, it seems Dallas is the beneficiary while the Wild now have arguably the three best teams from the former Western Conference to deal with.

The good news is that they also reside in the west alongside the Ducks, Kings and Sharks, three offensively-challenged teams that Minnesota should be able to shut down. The Coyotes also boast an anemic offense on an annual basis, but they tied for third in overall defense last season.

As hopeful as I am for their defensive ability, the main question with Minnesota should be up front, or more specifically down the middle.

The scoring should come on the wings, but keep in mind Mats Zuccarello will miss the start of training camp after November arm surgery, without a timetable to return. That leaves the offensive burden on the shoulders of Zach Parise, Kevin Fiala and highly-touted prospect Kirill Kaprizov, but on the whole this Wild club seemingly lacks offensive depth and it’s not often you find much success when center is your weakest position on the roster.

This Zach Parise goal is one of those ones you put on repeat. 🔁 pic.twitter.com/zCPjarqojI

— NHL (@NHL) December 2, 2019

Moving to the west also throws them back into a division alongside the powerhouse Avalanche and Blues. We’ll see how St. Louis fares without Alex Pietrangelo moving forward, but they’re a very good bet to join Colorado as one of the top-four teams in this division.

Add in the Golden Knights – who signed Pietrangelo in free agency – to the mix and you have three postseason spots accounted for. That would seemingly leave the Wild and Coyotes to duke it out for the final spot, but a shocking short-season run from one of the Ducks, Kings or Sharks cannot be ruled out either, however unlikely that may seem at this point. As of right now, BetOnline has the Coyotes (+900) slightly ahead of the Wild (+1000) in their West Division odds.

Bottom line here is that the Wild went from a division with one powerhouse to three, and when only four postseason spots can be had, the outlook takes a hit as a result.