NHL Expansion: Let The Talks…BEGIN!

By Thomas Malone |

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon addresses the crowd with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

EXPANSION MANIA!

Even if you are a casual watcher of the NHL, you should have heard by now that the NHL’s Board of Governors has formally opened the expansion process! However, before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to remember that doesn’t mean we will be looking at a new team (or two) this coming season, or even the season after.

What it does mean is that the NHL will hear out interested ownership groups stating their case. The choice of whether or not the ownership group will get a team… lies with the NHL Board of Governors. The application process will last from July 6th to August 10th, and the expansion fee will be $500 million. If it goes through, it will be the first expansion since 2000, which was the addition of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild.

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Now we Coyotes fans, perhaps more than anyone, have heard who the three front-runners are for a new team; we probably hear about the cities twice a day. The Toronto suburb of Markham; Kansas City, Missouri; Portland, Oregon and Milwaukee have also checked in. But, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Quebec City remain as the leaders at acquiring a sparkly new team.

These are not my personal opinions on which city should and shouldn’t have a team, just the pros and cons the board would look at when weighing on the new team. At least two of those three front-runners will probably end up obtaining a team in the next several seasons; the only question is, who will be first?

Quebec City

Pros- There is almost no downside to Quebec City getting a team back; I have no doubt the fans will support the team. The team’s arena would definitely be ready — the 18,000 seat arena is slated to finish September of this year, and came in $30 million under budget. The city has the money, has the fans, and has the arena lined up — it is the most ready for a team at the moment.

Cons- There is only one con to speak of when it comes to Quebec City reclaiming a team, and that is an alignment issue. The current league sees 14 teams in the west and 16 in the east, adding Quebec City to the mix would offset the conferences even more. Of course, the quick fix to this would be to move a team to the Western Conference, with Detroit (who played in the west until recently) and Columbus being likely candidates.

Las Vegas

Pros- Las Vegas has really stepped it up in the last couple years, showing an NHL franchise could survive on the strip. The prospective owner of the franchise, Bill Foley has been taking deposits for season tickets, and the number is already over 13,000. On top of that, the surrounding hotels have begun to hint at package deals, where hotel stays would also include tickets to the team. With an arena that will most likely be finished in 2016, Las Vegas is almost primed and ready to go.

Cons- Las Vegas is the most ready candidate in the west at the moment, and there are few if any cons to receiving a team. One might be the location: Bettman has caught a lot of flak for the team in Arizona, and he might be leery about dropping another team in the desert. Also the city is full of a variety of entertainment; the board might be worried if interest would hold up.

Seattle

Pros- The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American team to ever win a Stanley Cup, back in 1917. It seems Seattle wants to return to its pro sport roots now; the team has been campaigning heavily for a team for the last few years. The team has the money and the fan interest — the city would appear to have no real downsides at all if it wasn’t for one thing.

Cons- The main hold up for an expansion team in Seattle has been the lack of an arena suitable for an NHL team. This may have just been fixed, as the city recently gave the OK to investor Chris Hansen to build a multipurpose arena. However, they are still in the early stages of planning the arena, and if a team was to play by the 2017-18 season they would most likely need a temporary home.

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