Before I get into too many issues, let’s assume the new CBA is agreed upon in a timely manner, and very little changes.
With that out of the way, let’s look at realignment, relocation, and expansion.
Relocation and Expansion:
Several teams are potential suitors for relocation including Phoenix, The New York Islanders, and the New Jersey Devils. These four teams are perhaps the teams that are struggling the most financially, need a new facility, or simply have no ownership.
Potential destinations for relocating teams, or expansion include Quebec City, Seattle, Toronto, Kansas city, and Las Vegas.
Seattle: Both the NHL, and NBA have quietly expressed interest in expanding back into Seattle. A coalition of real estate and area civic leaders has thrown their collective efforts into plans for a multipurpose arena that could house both the NBA and NHL. The Sacramento Kings of the NBA are looking likely to be relocated to Seattle, but that plan only is financially viable if there is a second tenant. An NHL franchise for example.
Toronto: The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a hockey hot bed and with a population over six million there is a desperate need for more NHL hockey than one franchise can provide. Markham, a town just north of Toronto is could be announcing any day approval for plans to build a new facility. Graeme Roustan and real estate mogul Rudolph Bratty are behind the project. The 20,000-seater is designed to host major sporting events and concerts. If construction starts this year, the arena could be up and running in 2014. Meanwhile a team could temporarily play out of Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
Kansas: Kansas City already has a rink, the Sprint center. The Pittsburgh Penguins almost moved there a short while ago before they finalized a deal to build the CONSOLE Energy Center and keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The catch with Kansas city seems to be the potential owners there know that Kansas City is not Winnipeg and fans will not flock to see the team unless they are competitive.
Las Vegas: Believe it or not, there is hockey history in Sin City! There was a minor league team, the Las Vegas Thunder that played from 1993-1999. Every NHL pre-season since 1997, the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche play the Frozen Fury at the 16,800 seat capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena. It has been sold out every year, with substantial attendance from Las Vegas locals as well as traveling Kings and Avalanche fans. Furthermore, the NHL Awards are annually held in Vegas and Hollywood Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been rumored to be interested in bringing the NHL to Sin City.
The NHL is resistant to the notion of allowing teams to relocate. In specific cases there is no better alternative. The lack of ownership interested in keeping the Coyotes in Phoenix makes them a prime candidate. The Islanders lease on an insufficient Nassau Coliseum will expire soon and they will need a new home. Commissioner Gary Bettman recently refuted the notion of the Islanders moving to Brooklyn saying that it would be hard for the fan base in Long Island and Queens to reach the team at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. An article on The Hockey Writers disagrees, but regardless, it appears that the NHL does not like the idea of moving the Islanders to Brooklyn.
So assuming both Phoenix and the Islanders need to relocate, where do they go?
If at the same time the NHL is considering expansion, this would be an ideal time to do so. Adding two new franchises would add an influx of cash into the league, and beginning the new season armed with a new CBA, and four new franchises including two in Canada would create a tremendous buzz around the NHL.
By virtue of either relocation, or expansion, the NHL could see franchises in four new cities in, Las Vegas, Markham, Seattle, and Quebec.
Realignment:
With a 32 team League the NHL would have two 16 team Conferences and could have four divisions with four teams in each. A potential playoff format could see the first round playoff seeding be a division first and second place rival match up. After the divisional playoff round, the conference final four revert to overall seeding through to the Cup Finals.
With two teams relocating, one from the East (Phoenix), and one from the West (New York Islanders) and shifting Winnipeg into the West, and Detroit into the East here is what the Conferences could look like:
| Western Conference |
Eastern Conference |
| Division 1 Calgary Edmonton Seattle Vancouver |
Division 1 Montreal Ottawa Quebec City Toronto |
| Division 2 Anaheim Las Vegas Los Angeles San Jose |
Division 2 Boston Buffalo Detroit Markham |
| Division 3 Chicago Minnesota St. Louis Winnipeg |
Division 3 New Jersey New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh |
| Division 4 Colorado Columbus Dallas Nashville |
Division 4 Carolina Florida Tampa Bay Washington |
While this number of, and magnitude of changes is logistically impossible to accomplish in one off season, it is within the realm of possibilities that in the not too distant future the map of the NHL resembles something similar to this.
Pete Harling is and always has been passionate about hockey. He loves to watch it, play it but what he loves the most is fantasy hockey. Follow Peter Harling on twitter: @pharling. Email Coach Harling at [email protected].
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