Thirty one teams from the USA and Canada want to lift the Stanley Cup in May. In NHL's regular season they are divided accoding to them geographic location. Each of them is inside a conference and a division. After a long schedule of qualifying games, only the best ones go through to the postseason, which starts in April.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- Detroit Red Wings
- Florida Panthers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Metropolitan Division
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington Capitals
Western Conference
Central Division
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Minnesota Wild
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets
Pacific Division
- Anaheim Ducks
- Arizona Coyotes
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Los Angeles Kings
- San Jose Sharks
- Vancouver Canucks
- Vegas Golden Knights
Defunct Teams
- Brooklyn Americans
- Hamilton Tigers
- Montreal Maroons
- Montreal Wanderers
- Philadelphia Quakers
- St. Louis Eagles
Relocated Teams
- Atlanta Flames became the Calgary Flames
- Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets
- California Golden Seals became the Dallas Stars
- Cleveland Barons became the Dallas Stars
- Colorado Rockies became the New Jersey Devils
- Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes
- Kansas City Scouts became the Colorado Rockies
- Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars
- Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche
- Winnipeg Jets became the Arizona Coyotes
NHL Expansion?
Seattle was confirmed as the 32nd franchise of the National Hockey League. It's debut is scheduled for the 2021-22 season.
There are rumours of other interested cities in hosting a team: Quebec, Hamilton and Greater Toronto Area in Canada; Houston and Kansas City in the USA. In an official statement, the NHL announced it is happy having 32 teams in the league and is not looking at new horizons.
