NHL Expansion who knows?

By Greg Buchanan

The subject of league expansion was discussed at the last NHL governor’s meeting, and Gary Bettman also spoke about the issue at his All-Star Game press conference.

There’s nothing concrete yet, but the NHL is thinking about the project, which leads us to believe that there will be new clubs in the near future. Quebec City would like to take part in the expansion process, but we know that this idea is not popular with NHL management. Salt Lake City (Utah) and Atlanta seem to be in the thick of the race for a club. That’s a bummer for Quebec City. But we know that the idea will never move forward, as long as Gary Bettman is in charge of the league. It’s even more of a shame in the sense that Atlanta has already had two chances and it never worked out. It’s not a hockey market, unlike Quebec City, where we’ve been waiting for the Nordiques to come back for so long…

The 32 current owners wouldn't be hurting themselves if they accepted the money that came with expansion. As each new team would sit at a $2 billion valuation, owners would each get $62.5 million. With so many markets trying to get into business with the NHL, with Bettman mentioning Houston, Salt Lake City and Atlanta as just a few, that could drive up the price.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Bettman has done very well for the owners in the 31 years he’s been the commissioner. And another round of expansion will only endear him more to the team owners he works for. There’s not going to be an expansion announcement anytime soon, but we’d be willing to wager that, in the relatively near future, the NHL is going to grow again by two teams. When it does, players will be elated at the addition of 46 new NHL jobs, and team owners will be thrilled with the $125 million or more that would come their way with two new teams if the expansion fees are in that $2-billion range. There’s not much downside to expansion, and that’s why it’s almost certainly going to happen.

By adding two clubs, the total number of teams in the NHL would rise to 34. That’s a lot, and it’s “worrying” in a way because there won’t be much parity in the four corners of the league if the scenario comes to fruition. But it also has the potential to reduce the quality of play on the ice, mind you the way young hockey players keep displaying these amazing skill sets it may not make much of a difference.