"While refusing to reveal whether he was among the four dissidents voting against the NHL's new realignment plan, Devils CEO Lou Lamoriello on Wednesday left no doubt he would have preferred keeping the current six-division setup.

"We certainly would have liked it to stay the way it is," Lamoriello said of the scheme that creates four "conferences" of seven or eight teams, and limits interconference play to one game at each site.

"This plan obviously got the most support, and whenever something like that happens, you take a step back," Lamoriello said, citing widespread Western Conference backing for the setup, which still needs approval from the Players' Association."