The AHL will have a season, but it won’t be with 31 teams. The Charlotte Checkers, Milwaukee Admirals and Springfield Thunderbirds have all elected to opt out of the 2020-21 season. All three will return for 2021-22. After a board of governors call Monday, the league announced realignment for the upcoming season that will see 28 teams operate in five divisions. Those divisions will be as follows:

© Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/MCT/Sipa USA

Atlantic:

Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Hartford Wolf Pack

Providence Bruins

Canadian:

Belleville Senators

Laval Rocket

Manitoba Moose

Toronto Marlies

North:

Binghamton Devils

Hershey Bears

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Rochester Americans

Syracuse Crunch

Utica Comets

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Central:

Chicago Wolves

Cleveland Monsters

Grand Rapids Griffins

Iowa Wild

Rockford IceHogs

Texas Stars

Pacific:

Bakersfield Condors

Colorado Eagles

Henderson Silver Knights

Ontario Reign

San Diego Gulls

San Jose Barracuda

Stockton Heat

Tucson Roadrunners

Several teams have also secured provisional relocations. The Binghamton Devils will play in Newark, New Jersey; the Ontario Reign will play in El Segundo, California; the Providence Bruins will play in Marlborough, Massachusetts; and the San Diego Gulls will play in Irvine, California.

The league will play a schedule with variable lengths for each division but will have a minimum of 24 games. The league is hoping to start on Feb. 5, though an official schedule has not been announced yet.

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