[Nehkara]

Rest Easy Winnipeg, Realignment is Coming

The NHL’s new realignment plan for next season could become reality within two to three weeks.

The league in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association has worked diligently over the past two weeks on realignment, including a meeting in Toronto Tuesday morning between the two sides.

"The last two weeks we’ve been in constant communication with the NHLPA on realignment issues," deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.com Tuesday. "We’ve been exchanging information and we’re trying to get to a resolution as soon as possible." The NHLPA, through a spokesman, confirmed that there has been communication between the sides over the last two weeks, adding that it is committed to continuing to work with the league in an effort to reach an agreement.

Several team executives and governors contacted by ESPN.com Tuesday were in the dark about what the league was determining for realignment. And just what exactly the league and union have been working on the past two weeks, neither NHL nor NHLPA officials would divulge Tuesday. But it’s believed the framework is a slight variation from the December 2011 realignment format. And when I say variation, I believe there are a couple of teams that have been switched around from the original December 2011 format.

This was the proposed realignment in December 2011:

Conference A
Anaheim
Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Los Angeles
Phoenix
San Jose
Vancouver

Conference B
Chicago
Columbus
Dallas
Detroit
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg

Conference C
Boston
Buffalo
Florida
Montreal
Ottawa
Tampa Bay
Toronto

Conference D
Carolina
New Jersey
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington