The KHL is down to 24 teams. It needs to do a lot of shuffling in order for teams to maintain stability and for players to not be burdened by travel woes. Before Slovan left, the westernmost and easternmost teams were separated by almost 6200 miles. It's time to continue to kick out the weaker clubs and bring in more established members, while maintaining the total of 24 teams.

Boborov
Jokerit Helsinki
HIFK Helsinki (from Liiga)
Tappara Tampere (from Liiga)
Ilves Tampere (from Liiga)
TPS Turku (from Liiga)
Assat Pori (from Liiga)

Tarasov
Dinamo Riga
Dinamo Minsk
CSKA Moscow
Dynamo Moscow
Spartak Moscow
HC Sochi

Kharlamov
SKA St. Petersburg
Dinamo St. Petersburg (from Supreme Hockey League)
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Ak Bars Kazan
Salavat Yualev Ufa

Chernyshev
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Avtomobilist Yektaerinburg
Sibir Novosibirsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Avangard Omsk
Barys Nur-Sultan (formerly Barys Astana, city changed their name recently)


1 - westernmost and easternmost teams are separated by 2600 miles (whereas Boston and San Jose are separated by 3100 miles)
2 - Non-noted KHL teams leave for lower leagues, including Kunlun Red Star (team drawing very low, more regional competition with drop down)

1) highly unlikely the KHL abandons China; like, every frickin' sports league in the world is trying to get into the Chinese market at the moment, and the KHL is about the only foreign league with a team in China. the chance at big money is too much to pass up. besides, it's a long-term investment; thinking short-term gets these leagues nowhere.
2) Liiga talent pool probably is not nearly good enough to match up to KHL standards. if you're gonna poach entire groups of teams, try the SHL. or, like, diversify; take the best one or two teams from each of the NLA, the SHL, the Liiga, the Czech Extraliga, and maybe the DEL.

The Swedish Hockey Association does not want any of its teams in the KHL. The KHL wanted to get AIK Stockholm and Malmo Red Hawks but failed, and there were rumored attempts to start a team called the Crowns that splits home games in Stockholm and Malmö.

One of the biggest issues I keep reading about with KHL is the expenses and long travel. That Is why teams like Slovan Bratislava, Lev Praha, and Medvesack Zagreb left. I personally would’ve loved to see a “European Hockey League” that’s not the champions league set up like the NHL. Also would’ve loved to see the same on Far East, starting with Amur, Admiral, and Kunlun, with Expansion in Japan and South Korea. The Asia League Ice Hockey could’ve been absorbed and transformed into a top minor or junior league for Eastern Russian and Asian hockey players.

The KHL spans almost 6,200mi (10,000km) and the travel can hurt the on-Ice product.

It seems that KHL is next spreading to Middle East. In Dubai, to be precise

See here: https://twitter.com/AZadarski/status/1131767884714250241

In which of these hypothetical conferences you would put them lol

I did see the KHL expansion into the UAE and I think they should take the approach of Binkour Tashkent of Uzbekistan Hockey League. Before joining the KHL, Tashkent will compete in the VHL or a season or two until they are ready to make official jump. The Dubai team should do the same.

If I had the ability to reshape the KHL and its minors and junior teams, here is what I will do.

1. Use the above-mentioned teams to form the new KHL.

2. Incorporate all leagues/clubs from Russia, Finland, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Japan, and South Korea.

3. Create 2 minor leagues: Supreme Hockey League and Higher Hockey League. Supreme is occupied by westernmost teams in above-mentioned geographical footprint, Higher the east. Like Binkour, the Dubai team will start here.

4. Unused clubs in each league (primarily with seating less than 3,000), will join forces to form an elite U20 junior league for which KHL clubs can draft from, as opposed to U20 clubs being sponsored by KHL: clubs. It will be one league but divisions will be heavily geographically oriented. Aged-out undrafted players will go through a waiver wire of the Supreme and Higher Leagues before KHL gets a look at them.

** If you give me time, I will lay out the teams in each league.

5. Sixteen teams make KHL playoffs. The remaining 8 teams will participate in a "Good Will Tournament" with representatives from Supreme and Higher. Top 12 teams from each league will receive invitations to tournament at the conclusion of their respected playoffs. The "Good Will Tournament" will be used to showcase the talent among the leagues and retain interest in the non-playoff KHL teams.
The 32 teams will be split across 4 divisions of 8 teams, seeded based on standing in each league. Each team will play their divisional opponent once for a total of 7 games. Top 2 make playoffs (all one-game sets). As a competitive incentive, if a Supreme or Higher League wins the tournament, that team receives limited participation in the upcoming KHL draft. Taking a page from and making a tweak or two based on Champions Hockey League.

6. Supreme and Higher teams can earn the opportunity to join KHL in the future. If a team, lets say Binkour Tashkent, meets all requirements and the league is certain that this team will be a competitive force in KHL, then the KHL can extend invite to team to join league. Cap the total number of teams in KHL to 32.

7. KHL teams can have player development agreements with Supreme or Higher league clubs. If they do, those teams are exempt from U20 waiver wire mentioned above.

Thoughts?