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I've been reading up on the 1967 NHL expansion, in which the size of the league doubled in size, thus ending the era of the original six that had started in 1942. Most of those teams are still around today, except for the Califronia Seals which moved to Cleveland in 1976, and then stopped existing altogether when they merged with the Minnesota North Stars. The North Star themselves would eventually be moved to Dallas, becoming the Dallas Stars in 1993 (Minnesota would see a NHL team return to them in the form of the Wild in 2000).The NHL next expanded when it merged with the WHA, adding four more teams along with it in 1979. Between 1967 and 1979, six additional teams were added in Vancouver,Buffalo, Washington,New York (the Islanders joining the Original Six Rangers), and Atlanta, though the Atlanta team was eventually moved to Calgary. Another team, the Kansas City Scouts, was also added during this time, though it was moved twice, once to Colorado, and then next to New Jersey, where it still resides.

Today, it's clear that the NHL has changed alot in size in the past 45 years. After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, Hockey expanded widely into the US, so that it now has 30 teams in total. The Post-Gretzky expansion has been a difficult at times.

So that got me thinking, what would be the Ideal NHL look like? How many teams would it have, and where would the bbe located? What would the divisions look like, and how would the Playoffs be structured? Let's say you can't go back any further than the 1967 expansion. What would you do to the NHL?
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