NHL Commissioner Bettman expects 2012 realignment

“The good news, at least from my standpoint, is that it’s way too early to focus on collective bargaining,’’ Bettman said at Rogers Arena.

Bettman confirmed the relocated Atlanta Thrashers will be the northwesternmost team in the Southeast Division next season in Winnipeg, but likely will move to the West a year later.

That shift will set off several dominoes of realignment: Columbus, Nashville and Detroit are among the candidates to move to the Eastern Conference, while other teams will attempt to make sure they don’t get a competitive disadvantage through the move, perhaps with the powerful Red Wings moving into their division.

“All those clubs need an opportunity to be heard,’’ Bettman said. “That’s a process we’ll go through the first half of next season, looking at the issues that clubs want to raise, looking at various possibilities, and trying to figure out what will make the most sense moving forward.’’

Bettman believes those discussions will result in a more balanced schedule, perhaps closer to the NBA model in which every team plays at least once in every arena almost every season. The NHL went to an unbalanced schedule several years ago in an attempt to bolster geographical rivalries, but Bettman has heard from teams eager to see the entire NHL in their arenas.

While touting the league’s roughly $3 billion in revenue through record-setting sponsorship deals and television contracts, Bettman also praised NHL discipline chief Colin Campbell, who is handing over that thankless job to Brendan Shanahan as the league looks at additional ways to crack down on rough play and dangerous hits.

That crackdown could include harsher penalties at Shanahan’s disposal for supplemental discipline.

“That is my hope and expectation,’’ Bettman said. “That is something that we want to discuss more fully with the players’ association, but from my standpoint … if there’s certain conduct that we want to see out of the game, then we’ve got to make sure we do what’s necessary.’’