In the first KHL season, the division alignment was determined by team strength and the Tarasov division consisted of: CSKA Moscow, HC MVD, Khimik Voskresensk, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Traktor Chelyabinsk and SKA Saint Petersburg.
Because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed nearly the entire roster of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the team management decided to suspend operations for the 2011–12 season, temporarily reducing the Tarasov division to five teams.
With the addition of two new teams to the Bobrov Division for the 2012–13 season, some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions became necessary: Vityaz Chekhov were moved to Bobrov, while two Moscow teams, Spartak and CSKA were moved to Tarasov.
HC Donbass had to withdraw prior to the 2014–15 season because of the political instability in Ukraine, and Spartak Moscow had to leave for financial reasons.
Meanwhile, HC Sochi joined the league as a new team and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod moved back from the Eastern Conference.