AHL Announcements Impact Chicago Wolves

The American Hockey League made a few announcements on Thursday that will impact the Golden Knights' top minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
The news was released following the conclusion of the AHL's Board of Governor meetings.

1. The Wolves will play in the Central Division
Unlike the NHL, which very seldom makes changes to its divisions or conferences, the format that the AHL plays under changes regularly. This is largely a result of the league's member teams changing on a regular basis as well.
This season alone, the Laval Rockets debut as the Montreal Canadiens' former affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps exit the league; the Ottawa Senators moved their affiliate from Binghamton, NY to Belleville, Ont., and the New Jersey Devils moved into Binghamton from Albany, NY.
This had minimal effect on the Chicago Wolves, who will play in the Western Conference's Central Division.
2017-18 Central Division
Chicago Wolves (Vegas)
Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg)
Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville)
Rockford IceHogs (Chicago)
Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit)
Iowa Wild (Minnesota)
Cleveland Monsters (Columbus)
The only change from last season is that the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina) exited the Central Division to move to the Eastern Conference.

2. These are the three other divisions in the AHL this season.
2017-18 Pacific Division (Western Conference)
San Jose Barracuda (San Jose)
Stockton Heat (Calgary)
San Diego Gulls (Anaheim)
Ontario Reign (Los Angeles)
Tucson Roadrunners (Arizona)
Texas Stars (Dallas)
San Antonio Rampage (Colorado)
2017-18 Atlantic Division (Eastern Conference)
Charlotte Checkers (Carolina)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh)
Hershey Bears (Washington)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia)
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NY Islanders)
Hartford Wolf Pack (NY Rangers)
Springfield Thunderbirds (Florida)
Providence Bruins (Boston)
2017-18 North Division (Eastern Conference)
Utica Comets (Vancouver)
Rochester Americans (Buffalo)
Binghamton Devils (New Jersey)
Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay)
Belleville Senators (Ottawa)
Toronto Marlies (Toronto)
Laval Rocket (Montreal)

3. The standings will operate differently than the NHL
In the AHL, the Wolves' Central Division and both Eastern Conference divisions play 76 games, while the Pacific Divison plays 68 (all related to travel).
As a result, standings places are determined by what percentage of points a team has obtained compared to how games they have played.
Teams are seeded 1-4 by how they finish in their division, and only play teams in their division in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The entire Calder Cup Playoffs, like in the NHL, are four rounds.
4. There will be an AHL expansion team after this coming season
Before the Golden Knights entered the NHL, it was simple; 30 NHL teams, 30 AHL teams, everyone had their own.
When Vegas took over the Chicago Wolves, however, it left the St. Louis Blues without an affiliate (although the Blues will send some players to the Wolves this year, anyway).
The AHL confirmed on Thursday that a 31st team will join its league in 2018-19. It hasn't confirmed yet what city that team will play in, or whom it will be affiliated.

5. This will impact the Golden Knights
On the surface, this won't have much of an immediate effect on Vegas' on-ice fortunes. But with more than 80 percent of NHL players having begun their careers in the AHL, what happens in the AHL does have great significance to Vegas' future fortunes.
This season, who the Golden Knights send to the Wolves will be a bit of a mish mosh.
None of the 12 players the team drafted this June will be eligible to play for the Wolves this season. However, with the Golden Knights selecting more players (30) than the team has roster spots (23), and having been active in the early days of free agency, the composition of Chicago's roster is becoming clearer - although we won't be fully sure of who'll be on the Wolves until after Golden Knights training camp.
Basically, anyone who doesn't make the Golden Knights - who may come up or down from the AHL on a regular basis - will play for Chicago, which probably fielding a veteran lineup will have a strong chance of contending this season.
Which for the Golden Knights, is part of instilling a winning organizational culture from the top, down.