"Commissioner Bettman mentioned owners or ownership groups from Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City are among those known to have an interest.

"Again, with all the well-chronicled expressions of interest, let's see what we get when you're required to sign on the dotted line on a formal application," Commissioner Bettman said.

The Board of Governors has not decided how many teams would be accepted if the decision to expand is made."

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=77199...l:topheads


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IMO, ideally, adding two puts you ate 32 teams, 4 8 team divisions, 2 16 team conferences. I think the question will be the East/West split considering the candidates. I am surprised that 2nd Toronto team isn't mentioned that above quote. Or the Kansas City possibility.

Kansas City has no ownership group unless the Hunts want to get in on the action. Makes it better served for moving an existing franchise. The other cities have ownership groups with the cash for the entrance fees that the other owners want.

My guess at the most likely:

Las Vegas -- Has to show a level of local interest that looks strong enough to keep a NHL franchise going in Vegas after the novelty has worn off. Has to gauge league opposition to Vegas and overcome it.

Seattle -- Arena builders and potential team owners have to get their ducks in a row now or get passed up. Seattle will be #1 candidate if arena and ownership questions are answered satisfactorily. If.

Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Toronto area -- Probably on the list at this point just to explore the depth of the Maple Leafs' opposition and start to figure out how much $$$ the Leafs would demand to permit a 2nd team in the area. Might move up the list if that amount is lower than the NHL expects, but more likely it's a process that will take several years, and the next round of expansion or relocation, before there is a meeting of the minds on how much ransom the Leafs can extract.

Any place else -- Very unlikely unless at least two of the top three fall flat on their faces.

(06-24-2015 07:50 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  Kansas City has no ownership group unless the Hunts want to get in on the action. Makes it better served for moving an existing franchise. The other cities have ownership groups with the cash for the entrance fees that the other owners want.

Lamar Hunt Jr just purchased the ECHL team in KC a couple months ago. They just became the official minor league team of the NY Islanders last week.

The Whalers were a success in Hartford.

Hartford is exactly like Cleveland was after the Browns moved to Baltimore.

(06-24-2015 08:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Have you ever been to Quebec City? I have and its a new definition of small time.

I liked the idea a lot of the NFL going into Mississauga. A new rising Canadian city.

(06-24-2015 08:47 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  The Whalers were a success in Hartford.

Hartford is exactly like Cleveland was after the Browns moved to Baltimore.

Hartford is not anywhere as large as Cleveland.

(06-24-2015 09:20 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 08:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Have you ever been to Quebec City? I have and its a new definition of small time.

It's hockey, and it's Canada, so it doesn't have to be a megalopolis. And unlike every place in southern Ontario, putting a team in QC doesn't require a payment of more than $100 million to the Maple Leafs on top of a $500 million expansion fee.

(06-24-2015 08:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  My guess at the most likely:

Las Vegas -- Has to show a level of local interest that looks strong enough to keep a NHL franchise going in Vegas after the novelty has worn off. Has to gauge league opposition to Vegas and overcome it.

Seattle -- Arena builders and potential team owners have to get their ducks in a row now or get passed up. Seattle will be #1 candidate if arena and ownership questions are answered satisfactorily. If.

Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Toronto area -- Probably on the list at this point just to explore the depth of the Maple Leafs' opposition and start to figure out how much $$$ the Leafs would demand to permit a 2nd team in the area. Might move up the list if that amount is lower than the NHL expects, but more likely it's a process that will take several years, and the next round of expansion or relocation, before there is a meeting of the minds on how much ransom the Leafs can extract.

Any place else -- Very unlikely unless at least two of the top three fall flat on their faces.

With the last expansion, Houston and Oklahoma City were finalists. Hampton Roads also had someone put in a bid. Paul Allen has said that his group looks at possible NHL teams from time to time in Portland. Portland almost got the Coyotes a couple of years ago.

The issue is arenas. Tukwila south of Seattle has a privately funded arena proposed where I-405 and I-5 meet. Quebec City has their arena and a deep pocketed owner (Quebecor, a multimedia company) ready. Their bidders for a second Toronto team. The NHL could conceivably add four teams.
http://m.thn.com/blog/graeme-roustan-wil...n-toronto/

Move the Coyotes to Vegas and the Panthers to Quebec, then expand to Seattle in the Pacific and Kansas City in the Central. Boom! You get out of the two worst markets in the NHL (albeit Las Vegas for Arizona, but at least they'd have the whole city to themselves for big four sports) with no weird division geography necessary.

If a new team is going to the Toronto suburbs, I think the only way it works is if it's relocation and not expansion. By the time an expansion team gets established the Leafs may very well be competitive again, and if they become a Stanley Cup contender then the suburban team will be crippled from the start. Even if you get a weak hockey team to relocate there, at least they have a system in place and can theoretically capture a lot of disgruntled Leafs fans in the Toronto market if they start winning just a little bit. Then again, you can't collect outrageous expansion fees that way so it probably won't go down like that.

(06-24-2015 08:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  My guess at the most likely:

Las Vegas -- Has to show a level of local interest that looks strong enough to keep a NHL franchise going in Vegas after the novelty has worn off. Has to gauge league opposition to Vegas and overcome it.

Seattle -- Arena builders and potential team owners have to get their ducks in a row now or get passed up. Seattle will be #1 candidate if arena and ownership questions are answered satisfactorily. If.

Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Toronto area -- Probably on the list at this point just to explore the depth of the Maple Leafs' opposition and start to figure out how much $$$ the Leafs would demand to permit a 2nd team in the area. Might move up the list if that amount is lower than the NHL expects, but more likely it's a process that will take several years, and the next round of expansion or relocation, before there is a meeting of the minds on how much ransom the Leafs can extract.

Any place else -- Very unlikely unless at least two of the top three fall flat on their faces.

Would have to agree, from what I have seen happening here in Phoenix, the only reason why KC is such a strong candidate if Phoenix does not keep the Coyotes here is because KC has the location but not the ownership group. That would be optimal for this ownership group.

So that being said, if they are talking pure expansion group with new ownership then Seattle absolutely has to be the prime location. Money is the issue? That is actually the easiest issue to solve considering how great their location is in comparison to any contenders.

(06-24-2015 07:50 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  Kansas City has no ownership group unless the Hunts want to get in on the action. Makes it better served for moving an existing franchise. The other cities have ownership groups with the cash for the entrance fees that the other owners want.

There was some chatter that the ownership group of Sporting KC was toying with the idea of putting together a group to try to buy a team to relocate.

(06-24-2015 09:45 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 09:20 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 08:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Quebec City -- New arena will be ready. They need potential ownership to come forward and prove that even in this small city they have the money to pull this off. NHL reportedly wants $500 million expansion fee for each new team. If a Quebec group has the money, they'll be in position to get a team if Vegas or Seattle don't come through.

Have you ever been to Quebec City? I have and its a new definition of small time.

It's hockey, and it's Canada, so it doesn't have to be a megalopolis. And unlike every place in southern Ontario, putting a team in QC doesn't require a payment of more than $100 million to the Maple Leafs on top of a $500 million expansion fee.

NHL is an attendance driven league. If a small city can purchase enough season tickets, club seats and luxury boxes, it could work.

I wouldn't mind seeing KC, it would be god to have another midwestern team, a new rival for St. Louis and could be good for Chicago and Minnesota too.


Florida, Tampa, Arizona, Carolina would be good relocation candidates in my opinion. I wouldn't mind seeing teams in Toronto/Mississagua/Hamilton, Houston, Seattle, Portland.

Tampa and Carolina have great fanbases. There would be no reason for them to move either one.

Las Vegas and Seattle should get the expansion teams. Quebec and KC if they relocate teams...

Tampa just was in contention for the stanley cup... why the hell would they move them? Amalie ice arena was rocking and the crowds came out in force... not that they ever REALLY were threatening my blackhawks =) but still solid franchise that is trending upward? Not a relocation candidate

(06-24-2015 08:47 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  The Whalers were a success in Hartford.

Hartford is exactly like Cleveland was after the Browns moved to Baltimore.

Long term I think Hartford is where the Islanders end up. Either as the Hartford/New England/Connecticut Whalers or perhaps the Connecticut/New England Sounders. (Sounders referring to Long Island Sound of course which may keep some of the Islanders fans interested in the relocated franchise.)

I think the NHL is nuts to even consider expansion, a better plan would be contraction by two squads to reconcentrate the talent levels a bit. Arizona can be one squad and let's go with Florida as the other.

Since contraction would never happen lets just relocate Arizona and Florida to places where they'd be supported. I say Quebec City gets one and whoever comes up with the best ownership group and plan of Seattle, Kansas City or the second Toronto area squad gets the other. If Halifax had a serious plan and group to bring in a team I'd move that second squad there in a heartbeat. The metro area only has about 400K people in it, but Nova Scotia as a whole has about 925K people living there and let's face it many in the Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland) would follow a Halifax squad plenty closely.

Tampa Bay, Carolina, Nashville and Dallas all do fine with fan interest/attendance, especially the latter two. Carolina will continue to do better as long as the team is competitive given its division with the Devils, Caps, Pens, Flyers, stRangers, Islanders and Blue Jackets all of which have expats in the Triangle.

(06-25-2015 08:19 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 07:50 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  Kansas City has no ownership group unless the Hunts want to get in on the action. Makes it better served for moving an existing franchise. The other cities have ownership groups with the cash for the entrance fees that the other owners want.

There was some chatter that the ownership group of Sporting KC was toying with the idea of putting together a group to try to buy a team to relocate.

Figured they would make a run at the Royals in the future, but a hockey team makes sense for them. Combine the marketing efforts for Sporting and the NHL team, year round exposure for sponsors.

Not sure why Vegas is in the conversation.

Small market, extremely transient population, basketball town, gambling issue.

Casino money can only do so much

(06-25-2015 12:00 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Not sure why Vegas is in the conversation.

Small market, extremely transient population, basketball town, gambling issue.

Casino money can only do so much

I agree, although the small market on paper is mitigated by its fast growth and the fact that there is absolutely zero direct pro or power conference sports competition (so it's wide open). Vegas would be a *fantastic* NBA market, but it feels like the exact same problems of Phoenix, Atlanta and other Sun Belt cities for the NHL will occur in Vegas once the newness shine wears off.

Seattle, Kansas City and virtually any decent-sized Canadian market would work well for NHL expansion. I don't think the NHL can really abandon Sun Belt markets wholesale (as the reality is that they're going to need those markets in the next generation), but they can't get infatuated simply with potential population numbers.

I'll reiterate that there's NFW that a 2nd Toronto team will ever exist, though - the Maple Leafs are waaaay too powerful. They are still the most valuable franchise in the NHL even with decades of on-the-ice ineptitude and it's completely because of their monopoly on the Toronto market for hockey. There is no price that the Leafs will pay to give it up (as it would be like if the Giants had a monopoly on the NYC market for the NFL or Chelsea had a monopoly on the London market for the EPL).