Fans will now have to wait until the fall for NHL Seattle’s name reveal

NHL Seattle is officially postponing its name reveal until at least the fall.

It seems we will be waiting just a little bit longer for NHL Seattle to reveal its team name to the world. On Tuesday, NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke told The Seattle Times that the name reveal has been postponed until the fall — at least — due to trademark issues, the coronavirus pandemic and local protests on racial injustice and police brutality.

The NHL’s 32nd team is still on track to play their first season during the 2021-22 season, with an expansion draft set to precede the team’s inaugural year.

April was the last time fans heard news about Seattle’s name reveal, when it was reported that the team was “close” to picking a name for the franchise. However, it seems Seattle is designing logos and uniform concepts for multiple names, among attempting to trademark them, indicating that a decision still has to be made.

“If you do just one [name], then you’ve left yourself hostage to any sort of [trademarking] challenge,” Leiweke said. “So we’ve had to do multiple marks, and that’s about where we are.”

NHL Seattle delays reveal of upcoming franchise team name

For those of us who were looking forward to Seattle potentially grabbing the spotlight of the sports world with none of the major leagues playing, this news is disappointing, but ultimately the right move. Given the coronavirus pandemic and the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police officers in late May, the conversation does not need to be centered around the name of a new hockey team.

NHL Seattle was originally supposed to reveal the name of the team before the NHL’s All-Star break ended, but that date came and went with no news. Though these delays have been tough, Vegas revealed its team name — the Golden Knights — less than a year before the team was set to take the stage as the NHL’s 31st team, so Seattle is still on track in that regard.

The current frontrunner for NHL Seattle’s name is the Kraken, which would be a standout name to cap off what is likely the league’s last expansion franchise for some time. Other names are no doubt in the mix as well, which makes Seattle’s upcoming decision such a hot-button topic for fans. However, we’ll have to wait just a little bit longer before we see what branding the NHL’s 32nd team will have.

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