We had you vote on who you thought the winners and losers of realignment last night but there’s one loser worthy of more attention. With how the teams are shuffled about into four new conferences, the one team that loses out especially hard are the Carolina Hurricanes.
Look at what the Hurricanes have now. They’re in a division with Tampa Bay, Florida, Washington, and Winnipeg. That would at least give them a punchers chance of battling through the dregs of the Southeast to make a run at a playoff spot.
Now they’re tossed into the remaking of the old Patrick Division. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey, Rangers, and Islanders. Sure the Islanders seem weak now, but they’ve been building for the future ever since Garth Snow took over as GM. They’ll be good in short order. Then they’ll have to deal with both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby along with the Rangers and Flyers as well? Forget about it.
Perhaps this is why Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford told CBC’s Elliotte Friedman about his 20-team playoff proposal. Carolina might need the postseason to involve 20 teams to get a shot at it in the future. If Devils GM Lou Lamoriello says it’s going to be hard, you’d better believe it.
It was reported last night that the final vote on realignment had 26 teams vote in support of it and four against it. If the Hurricanes and owner Peter Karmanos weren’t one of the “no” votes on this arrangement, we’d be stunned.