Kontinental Hockey League team changes

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. Initially, Lev Poprad replaced Budivelnyk to retain the number of teams at 24. However, Lev was excluded by the KHL before the start of that season, 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
 	inaugural season of competition	inaugural season of competition 	inaugural season of competition	inaugural season of competition	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
2010–11	Dynamo M 	Merged with MVD to form UHC Dynamo 	  	Yugra 	VHL 	23
2010–11	MVD 	Merged with Dynamo to form UHC Dynamo 	  	  	  	23
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
2012–13	  	  	  	Donbass 	VHL 	26
2012–13	  	  	  	Lokomotiv 	Returned to KHL after plane tragedy 	26
2012–13	  	  	  	Lev Praha 	Newly created team 	26
2013–14	  	  	  	Admiral 	Newly created team 	28
2013–14	  	  	  	Medveščak 	Austrian EBEL 	28
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
2014–15	Lev Praha 	Disbanded 	  	Jokerit 	Liiga 	28
2014–15	Spartak Moscow 	Took one year off due to financial issues 	  	HC Sochi 	Newly created team 	28
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
2017–18	Metallurg Novokuznetsk 	Joined VHL 	  	  	  	27
2018–19	Lada 	Rejoined VHL 	  	  	  	25
2018–19	Yugra 	Joined VHL 	  	  	  	25
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==
Season 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions 	Divisions	Divisions
Season 	Bobrov 	Bobrov 	Tarasov 	Tarasov 	Kharlamov 	Kharlamov 	Chernyshev 	Chernyshev 	 	
Season 	Joined division 	Left division 	Joined division 	Left division 	Joined division 	Left division 	Joined division 	Left division 	 	
2008–09(initial composition) 	Atlant Dinamo Mn Metallurg Nk Salavat Yulaev Severstal Spartak	 	CSKA Khimik Metallurg Mg HC MVD SKA Traktor	 	Amur Avangard Dinamo R Lada Lokomotiv Sibir 	 	Ak Bars Barys Dynamo M Neftekhimik Torpedo Vityaz	 	 	
2009–10(geographical realignment)	CSKA Dinamo R Dynamo M SKA 	Atlant Metallurg Nk Salavat Yulaev Severstal	Atlant Lokomotiv Severstal Torpedo Vityaz 	CSKA Khimik Metallurg Mg SKA Traktor	Ak Bars Avtomobilist Metallurg Mg Neftekhimik Traktor	Amur Avangard Dinamo R Lokomotiv Sibir	Amur Avangard Metallurg Nk Salavat Yulaev Sibir 	Ak Bars Dynamo M Neftekhimik Torpedo Vityaz	 	
2010–11 	UHC Dynamo 	Dinamo Mn Dynamo M 	Dinamo Mn 	HC MVD 	Yugra 	Lada 	 	 	 	
2011–12 	Lev Poprad 	 	 	Lokomotiv 	 	 	 	 	 	
2012–13 	Donbass Lev Praha Slovan Vityaz 	CSKA Lev Poprad Spartak 	CSKA Lokomotiv Spartak 	Vityaz 	 	 	 	 	 	
2013–14 	CSKA Dinamo Mn Medveščak 	Donbass Dynamo M Vityaz 	Donbass Dynamo M Vityaz 	CSKA Dinamo Mn Torpedo 	Torpedo 	 	Admiral 	 	 	
2014–15 	Atlant Jokerit 	CSKA Lev Praha 	CSKA HC Sochi Torpedo 	Atlant Donbass Spartak Moscow 	Lada 	Torpedo 	 	 	 	
2015–16 	Spartak M 	Atlant 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
2016–17 	 	 	 	 	 	 	HC Red Star Kunlun 	 	 	
2017–18 	 	Medveščak 	 	 	 	 	 	Metallurg Nk 	 	
2018–19 	Dynamo M Severstal 	Dinamo Mn Slovan 	Dinamo Mn Slovan 	Torpedo Dynamo M Severstal 	Torpedo 	Lada Yugra 	 	 	 	
2019–20 	 	 	Torpedo 	Slovan 	Sibir 	Torpedo 	 	Sibir 	 	
2020–21 	HC Sochi Vityaz 	Dinamo R Dynamo M 	Dinamo R Dynamo M 	HC Sochi Torpedo Vityaz 	Torpedo 	Sibir 	Sibir 	Admiral 	 	
2021–22 	Torpedo 	Severstal 	Severstal 	 	HC Red Star Kunlun 	Torpedo 	Admiral 	HC Red Star Kunlun 	 	
==References==
Category:Kontinental Hockey League