Las Vegas to join Flames in Pacific Division in 2017-18
By Ryan Pike
7 years agoThe Calgary Flames are about to get some new neighbours.
The National Hockey League officially announced that they will be adding a 31st franchise, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2017-18 season. The Las Vegas team will join the Flames in the Pacific Division, bumping the division to eight teams and the Western Conference to 15 teams.
The addition of the expansion team will have two primary impacts on the Flames.
The big impact will be the expansion draft, held between June 17 and 20 (with the 30 Vegas selections announced on June 21). The press release made official many details previously speculated regarding the draft:
For what it’s worth, Matt Stajan and T.J. Brodie have modified no-trade clauses for 2017-18, but nobody on the team has a no-move clause.
The other big impact will be the changing of the schedule. The Flames will play the Vegas team at least four times a season – twice in Calgary and twice in Las Vegas – with the fifth game rotating around the six other Pacific Division clubs.
In essence, they’re carving off a game against each of the other Pacific teams and giving them to Las Vegas.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
| Pacific | 29 games (5 games vs. 5 teams) (4 games vs. 1 team) | 29 games (4 games vs. 6 teams) (5 games vs. 1 team) |
| Central | 21 games (3 games vs. 7 teams) | 21 games (3 games vs. 7 teams) |
| Eastern Conference | 32 games (2 games vs. 16 teams) | 32 games (2 games vs. 16 teams) |
Now that expansion is official, the 30 existing NHL general managers will begin jockeying to prepare for next summer’s gigantic expansion draft.
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