NHL rumors: No expansion talks coming at Board of Governors meeting

Gary Bettman’s legacy as NHL Commissioner will be his growth of the sport in the USA through expansion and relocation. Since joining the league in 1993, Bettman has put new teams in Florida, Anaheim, Nashville, Atlanta, Minnesota, Columbus, and, most recently, Las Vegas and Seattle. He also helped relocate Minnesota to Dallas (before returning to Minnesota in the expansion), Quebec to Colorado, Winnipeg to Arizona, Hartford to Carolina, and eventually Arizona to Utah.

Canadian hockey fans might not be the biggest fans of Bettman, given the movement, and they’ll be even less fans if he manages to get Atlanta and Houston as two new teams before his reign ends and skips over Quebec City. However, if anyone is expecting that to come soon, it might be a stretch, according to Pierre LeBrun’s recent report with The Athletic.

“A league source told The Athletic this week, though, that expansion is not expected to be on the Board of Governors agenda,” LeBrun reported. “Will a group from Atlanta, Houston, or any other potential expansion city be on hand to speak with the owners’ executive committee? A league source responded, ‘No.'”

LeBrun noted that the Vegas expansion news wasn’t on the agenda in 2014 either, until Bettman dropped it at the meetings. At those meetings, he announced that Vegas was launching a season ticket drive to gauge market interest.

There is a chance that Bettman does give an update on the growing situations in Atlanta and Houston, but whether that includes a season ticket drive remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the NHL will likely grow to more than 32 teams at some point, and Atlanta getting their third crack at having a sustainable franchise is definitely in the cards.

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