Expansion: All signs point to Utah and Atlanta as next clubs

At the time of writing, the NHL has not announced any plans for expansion.

The subject was discussed at the last NHL governors’ meeting, and Gary Bettman also spoke about the issue at his All-Star Game press conference.

There’s nothing concrete yet… But the NHL is thinking about the project, which leads us to believe that there will be new clubs in the near future.

Quebec City would like to take part in the expansion process, but we know that this idea is not popular with NHL management.

That said, according to David Pagnotta on Twitter, Salt Lake City (Utah) and Atlanta seem to be in the thick of the race for a club.

It’s been a bit quieter on the expansion chatter lately, because of the deadline, but it’s sounding like there’s continued progress towards Atlanta 3.0 and word of a proposed arena district seems to have Sept/Oct timeline. Utah 33. Atlanta 34.

– David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) March 1, 2024

That’s a bummer for Quebec City. But we know that the idea will never move forward, as long as Gary Bettman is in charge of the league.

And it’s even more of a shame in the sense that Atlanta has already had two chances and it never worked out. It’s not a hockey market, unlike Quebec City, where we’ve been waiting for the Nordiques to come back for so long…

Anyway.

By adding two clubs, the total number of teams in the NHL would rise to 34. That’s a lot, and it’s “worrying” in a way because there won’t be much parity in the four corners of the league if the scenario comes to fruition.

But it also reduces the quality of play on the ice.

At the end of the day, however, it’s clear that this problem doesn’t affect NHL executives.

Money talks, as they say…

Breaking news

– The kid is good!

Jakub Dobes is now just 3 wins away from the Laval Rocket’s record for wins in a season (19), which has belonged to Cayden Primeau since last season. He has a good chance of reaching that mark, as Jean-François Houle intends to use him a lot.

– Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) March 1, 2024

– Ovi is usually on fire in March.

Alex Ovechkin can become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer in the month of March when the @Capitals and @NHLFlyers collide at 7 p.m. ET on @NHLNetwork and @TVASports.#NHLStats: https://t.co/iw5wMKga1A pic.twitter.com/ZCyD1LdrT1

– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 1, 2024

– Ball fans, this is for you:

For those who missed it yesterday, here’s the first episode of our brand-new podcast