Gary Bettman and the Board of Governors have plans to talk league expansion at their next meeting
If you’re an out-of-market hockey fan, chances are you have Gary Bettman’s name flagged in your USA Today and ESPN News phone alerts — and it looks like you’re one step closer (or at least, some of you) to finally getting your NHL team.
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ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun published a schedule for the meeting Gary Bettman and the NHL’s Board of Governors will have this Monday and Tuesday in Boca Raton, Florida — and yes, it does include expansion talk.
In addition to some talk about league finances (particularly the salary cap) and some legal discrepancies, the BOG will discuss the upcoming Winter Olympics, get a formal update on the World Cup of Hockey, and chat about some of the expansion updates that have come up since their last meeting.
"“Commissioner Gary Bettman might get more direction from the owners on expansion, another source said. But the sense heading into the two-day meeting is that as far as the agenda goes, Bettman is not planning on making any big expansion announcements. The league is not quite ready yet, it would appear.”"
Based on the chats Bettman has had with the media so far this season, expansion is definitely coming — but without a single city boasting an already-built arena, firm ownership group, and sufficient finances, it’s unlikely that these additional teams will be coming any time too soon.
LeBrun adds that certain teams in Carolina and South Florida are “chomping at the bit” to get their payout from the $500 million expansion fee; with none of this money required to go towards players, it’s entirely likely that these struggling ownership groups can’t get some additional monetary dividends soon enough.
The two cities that are currently looking like the most likely recipients of any expansionary teams are Seattle and Las Vegas, but talks haven’t quieted yet around the league of a second team in Toronto or a new attempt to make a team in Quebec City both profitable and a friendly environment for non-Francophone hockey players and fans.
Conspicuously left off the agenda, of course, is the board of governor’s vote on Andrew Barroway’s bid for a majority share of the Arizona Coyotes.
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