Insider reveals 7 frontrunners to land the NHL's next expansion team
The NHL has expanded twice since 2016, when the unanimous vote was turned in to allow the Vegas Golden Knights to enter the league as the 31st NHL franchise beginning in 2017-18, followed shortly thereafter by the Seattle Kraken's approval coming in December of 2018, with the franchise playing its inaugural season in 2021-22.
While the league has already stated that there are no imminent plans to expand again just yet, that could all change before too long, as ESPN's Kevin Weekes is reporting that a number of major cities in both the U.S. and Canada have expressed a desire to house a new NHL franchise.
Weekes had reported on Wednesday that the following cities, stressing that the list comes in no particular order, would like to submit bids for an NHL team if/when the opportunity for expansion came up again.
Quebec City
Salt Lake City
South Forsyth (Metro Atlanta)
Houston
Portland
San Diego
2nd Club GTA Toronto
While we've all heard Houston, Quebec City, Atlanta and a 2nd team in the Greater Toronto Area as previous options, it looks as though Salt Lake City, Portland and San Diego have also caught NHL fever. Time will tell whether or not another expansion is on the way, but since money does all the talking in this crazy world, I'd imagine it won't be long before the NHL opens the table to bids and that we'll see a 33rd NHL franchise named.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 5 | 363 ANSWERS Insider reveals 7 frontrunners to land the NHL's next expansion team Where would you like to see the next NHL team land? | ||
| 2nd GTA team | 91 | 25.1 % |
| Quebec City | 226 | 62.3 % |
| Atlanta | 9 | 2.5 % |
| Other | 37 | 10.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
