How I would have done the recent NHL realignment

Well, I'm back.  Since the NHL season is over a month away, I've been playing a lot of NHL hockey on my PS2, and I've also been watching a lot of NHL Network, so I decided to share some of my thoughts on hockey.

Like many NHL fans out there, I am not a fan of the recent NHL realignment, which goes something like this...

Western Confernce
Pacific Division

• Anaheim Ducks
• Arizona Coyotes (formerly Phoenix Coyotes)
• Calgary Flames
• Edmonton Oilers
• Los Angeles Kings
• San Jose Sharks
• Vancouver Canucks

Central Division

• Chicago Blackhawks
• Colorado Avalanche
• Dallas Stars
• Minnesota Wild
• Nashville Predators
• St. Louis Blues
• Winnipeg Jets

Eastern Confernce
Atlantic Division (formerly the Northeast Division)

• Boston Bruins
• Buffalo Sabres
• Detroit Red Wings
• Florida Panthers
• Montreal Canadiens
• Ottawa Senators
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division (formerly the old Atlantic Division)

• Carolina Hurricanes
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• New Jersey Devils
• New York Islanders
• New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Washington Capitals

If I was running the NHL, I would have kept the six-division format, but do only minor realignments, like so...

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

• New Jersey Devils
• New York Islanders
• New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins

Northeast Division

• Boston Bruins
• Buffalo Sabres
• Montreal Canadiens
• Ottawa Senators
• Toronto Maple Leafs

Southeast Division

• Carolina Hurricanes
• Florida Panthers
• Nashville Predators (since Nashville is in the South)
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Washington Capitals

Western Conference

Central Division

• Chicago Blackhawks
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Detroit Red Wings
• Minnesota Wild (to keep in tone with the old Norris Division)
• St. Louis Blues

Northwest Division

• Calgary Flames
• Colorado Avalanche
• Edmonton Oilers
• Vancouver Canucks
• Winnipeg Jets (to keep in tone with the old Smythe Division)

Pacific Division

• Anaheim Ducks
• Arizona Coyotes (formerly Phoenix Coyotes)
• Dallas Stars
• Los Angeles Kings
• San Jose Sharks

However...if I did decide to use the four-division format, I would have kept it the same as the real NHL realignment, but get rid of Columbus and Florida, due to their lack of regular season success in recent years. (Yes, I would have kept the Arizona Coyotes.  Deal with it.)