Who Should Play in the Eastern Conference?

The realignment talks are already starting to heat up. With news that the Atlanta Thrashers are going to be the Winnipeg Jets, teams that are in the east part of the Western Conference are already making talks that they would like to be moved to the other conference.

With the departure of Atlanta, realignment comes as no surprise to anyone in the league, especially teams that are in the Eastern part of the Western Conference, such as Nashville, Detroit, or Columbus. All teams are ready to make the jump to the Eastern Conference but who is the likely candidate?

Detroit has that big-time rivalry with Chicago and if Detroit does move, it would potentially eliminate the possible rivalry between the two teams. On the other hand, Detroit wants to play with teams in the East, since they feel it is easier to get into the playoffs in the East then in the West. Columbus and Nashville might want to go for those reasons, and Nashville wants to win the Stanley Cup and it might seem like an easier road for them to play in the Western Conference since Boston and Tampa Bay might seem like the only powerhouses on the East Coast. Columbus can go because if it moves to the Eastern Conference it can have that big-time rivalry with Pittsburgh, even though the Penguins already share one with Philadelphia. The truth of the matter is, they need to find a way to get into the playoffs whether or not they stay in the Eastern Conference.

Now those three teams seem like the obvious choices to make the switch to the Eastern Conference. Any other teams? The only other option I see is Dallas moving to the Southeast Division and that means Colorado will move to the Pacific Division and play with Anaheim, LA, San Jose, and Phoenix. If Nashville, Columbus, or Detroit move, Minnesota might move to the Central Division. At least that's how I see it.

So who really should move to the Eastern Conference? I don't think Dallas is going to move, even though it should. Detroit has that big rivalry with Chicago, so if they move, there might be uproars about that. Nashville is east but it's not east enough. That leaves Columbus and I think that Columbus will have a better shot at a winning record in two years if they move to the Eastern Conference. They will have an easier shot to get into the playoffs if they move to the East. Nashville and Detroit have already proven they can get in and Dallas really can't move. So we'll see if Columbus actually makes the move or if the league surprises us by picking either Detroit, Nashville, or Dallas.

Well, realignment will happen after the next season ends and will it happen? Will those three teams jump? Or will Dallas surprise everybody and move to the Southeast Division? We won't know for a long time, puckheads, but be ready to see some major changes come to our conferences.