Return of the all-Canadian division once play resumes?

If you're keeping score at home that's now nine NHL teams on a break while the league attempts to get its recent outbreak of COVID-19 under control. Prior to league's pause the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets all individually elected to extend their break in order to get back to full health and limit the spread of the virus amongst other teams.

Prior to the full shutdown though, the NHL decided to postpone any cross border games to avoid situations where a player tests positive outside of their home country and is then forced to quarantine away from home.

This has led to widespread speculation amongst fans and analysts that the league will return to the divisional format used in 2020-21, which of course featured the all-Canadian division.

You may recall that last season teams did not leave their own divisions until the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which gave us the unique situation of having the Montreal Canadiens playing in the Western Conference Final. It also gave us the historic first round upset of those same Canadiens coming back from down 3-1 to eliminate the league leading Toronto Maple Leafs.

Personally, I saw bring it on. I actually loved the more regional division rivalries created last season and would die to see more of it. At this point, it's clear that the NHL has to make serious changes if they genuinely want to put this virus behind them. So, to me, they either need to get serious with their restrictions or they need to do away with them completely. The players are (almost) all vaccinated and serious illness is an extreme rarity in their ranks. It's time to make a decision, NHL.