From the league's inception in 2008 there have always been team changes in the Kontinental Hockey League between seasons, as some new teams have joined the league or others have left it. There is no promotion/relegation system with the VHL in place like there was with the Superleague and Vysshaya Liga. The number of teams in the league stayed at 24 throughout the first two seasons. In the third season the number of teams was reduced to 23 because Budivelnyk, a team that planned to join the league, dropped out before the start of the season.[1] Initially, Lev Poprad replaced Budivelnyk to retain the number of teams at 24.[2] However, Lev was excluded by the KHL before the start of that season,[3] but would be accepted into the league for 2011–12. The league plans to expand this number for future seasons.
The inaugural season of KHL included all 20 teams of the 2007–08 Russian Superleague. Non–Russian teams Barys Astana, Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk also joined the newly formed league. Likewise, the recreated team of Khimik Voskresensk, the champion of the 2007–08 season of the Major League, joined. Thus the initial number of teams was 24.
Team changes by season
| Season | Teams left the league | Fate of the team | Teams joined the league | Whence | Number of teams in the league | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | inaugural season of competition | 24 | ||||
| 2009–10 |  Khimik |
Joined VHL | Avtomobilist |
VHL | 24 | |
| 2010–11 | Lada |
Joined VHL | UHC Dynamo |
Newly created team by merger of Dynamo and MVD | 23 | |
| Dynamo M |
Merged with MVD to form UHC Dynamo | Yugra |
VHL | |||
| MVD |
Merged with Dynamo to form UHC Dynamo | |||||
| 2011–12 | Lokomotiv |
Scratched from season due to plane crash |  Lev Poprad |
Newly created team | 23 | |
| 2012–13 | Lev Poprad |
Disbanded | Slovan |
Slovak Extraliga | 26 | |
 Donbass |
VHL | |||||
| Lokomotiv |
Returned to KHL after plane tragedy | |||||
 Lev Praha |
Newly created team | |||||
| 2013–14 | Admiral |
Newly created team | 28 | |||
 Medveščak |
Austrian EBEL | |||||
| 2014–15 | Donbass |
Joined the Ukrainian Hockey Extra League prior to the 2015–16 season, after one year of inactivity. | Lada Togliatti |
Returned to the league | 28 | |
| Lev Praha |
Disbanded |  Jokerit |
Liiga | |||
| Spartak Moscow |
Took one year off due to financial issues | HC Sochi |
Newly created team | |||
| 2015–16 | Atlant |
Folded due to financial issues. | Spartak Moscow |
Returned to the league | 28 | |
| 2016–17 |  HC Red Star Kunlun |
Newly created team | 29 | |||
| 2017–18 | Medveščak |
Returned to Austrian EBEL | 27 | |||
| Metallurg Novokuznetsk |
Joined VHL | |||||
| 2018–19 | Lada |
Rejoined VHL | 25 | |||
| Yugra |
Joined VHL | |||||
| 2019–20 | Slovan |
Left league due to financial issues to attempt to rejoin Slovak Extraliga | 24 | |||
| 2020–21 | Admiral |
Took hiatus due to financial issues | 23 | |||
| 2021–22 |  Dinamo Riga Jokerit |
Left the league due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine | Admiral |
Return to league after COVID-19 break | 22 | |
Division lineup changes
References
- ↑ "Budivelnik will not play in KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ↑ "HC Lev to join KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ↑ "Лев" не сыграет в ближайшем сезоне (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ↑ "Regular Season Format Unveiled". 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
- ↑ "League confirms structure for the new season". 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
| |||||||||||||||||