The NHL appears set to begin exploring the process of another league expansion.
An update from commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to come on Tuesday at the Board of Governors meetings. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun adds he expects Houston to be “front and centre” when Bettman speaks, though Austin will also be included in the update.
Houston recently ranked atop the NHLPA Player Poll as the city most players would like to see the league expand to.
The poll released in April showed 34.3 per cent of players who voted would like to see the league expand to Houston. Quebec City received just under half of that number with 16.9 per cent voting that they would like to see a second team in the province.
Atlanta (9.8 per cent), Scottsdale, Ariz. (8.9 per cent), and Austin, Texas (5 per cent) also received votes in the player poll.
The league has been at 32 teams since the arrival of the Seattle Kraken in the 2021-22 season.
There has been no shortage of speculation on expansion, though Bettman said in the fall that the topic was not discussed at the most recent Board of Governors meeting.
“There is, and continues to be, interest from lots of places,” Bettman said in October. “But none of it has reached the level that we need to focus on at this point.”
A year ago, the NHL met with a group led by billionaire Dan Friedkin to discuss its interest in bringing an expansion team to Houston. Friedkin has a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes, and recently bought 98.8 per cent interest in English Premier League club Everton.
