NHL realignment plan official for 2013-14 season

The NHL Board of Governors has approved the realignment plan proposed last week, and changes will officially go into effect for the 2013-14 season.

This was the final step in the process, as the NHL Players’ Association had already voted in favor of the realignment proposal. With both sides in agreement on the structure, the new system will be implemented prior to next season.

The NHL Players’ Association has given consent to the NHL’s realignment proposal, according to a press release from executive director Donald Fehr on Thursday night.

The NHLPA has consented to the realignment structure through the 2014-15 season. Following that season, the structure will be re-evaluated.

Over the weekend, a report by Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman revealed what seems to be the NHL’s new realignment plan which would be instated for next season. The NHL had approved a similar realignment plan back in the fall of 2011 only to have it blocked by the NHLPA -- likely as the first grab for power leading up to the lockout -- and now comes forward with a slightly different idea that seems to be much better than what was originally agreed upon.

Instead of showing some awkward screen grabs of the HNIC report, here’s a great breakdown of the four new conferences being proposed by the NHL: