Re-Ranking the Top 5 Cities for an NHL Expansion Team

The Stanley Cup has been hoisted. A new wave of would-be superstars has been drafted. And the latest round of free-agency deals has come and gone.

Which means it must be expansion season.

The status of plans for cities with hats already in the ring for a 34-team league were shared with the NHL's board of governors at its pre-draft meeting in June, and Frank Seravalli suggested there have been rumblings that an intriguing new candidate has made its presence known as well.

That was all the prodding the B/R hockey team needed to reset the pecking order from least to most deserving. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.

5. Indianapolis

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Wayne Gretzky in 1978.

When you think hockey, you probably don't think Indiana.

But fans of a certain age will recall Wayne Gretzky took his first professional steps with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers, which played four full seasons at the city's since-demolished Market Square Arena before folding in 1978.

Gretzky was shipped to Edmonton just before the lights went out and hockey in the Hoosier State's capital city was relegated first to the IHL's Indianapolis Checkers and these days to the ECHL's Indy Fuel, which play home games in nearby Fishers.

Problem is, the Fuel's home rink is far from NHL-ready with a capacity of 7,500, while the Gainbridge Fieldhouse downtown is packed with NBA and WNBA games. And no one with a legitimate connection to a would-be expansion bid was willing to go public with details for a recent IndyStar article.

Maybe it's possible. But it doesn't seem like a top priority for now.

4. New Orleans

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There's more sizzle regarding New Orleans hockey, but not a lot of steak.

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and U.S. representative Steve Scalise at least went public in March to say they'd had a conference call with the league about bringing a team to the Crescent City, but there haven't been a lot of details other than the former taking to social media to talk about the perks.

"The economic impact would be substantial," Landry wrote on Feb. 20, the day of the 4 Nations Face-Off title game between the U.S. and Canada, "and having the Stanley Cup in the Big Easy would be a win for all!"

The sport doesn't have a significant history in the city beyond the ECHL's New Orleans Brass, which played at the Municipal Auditorium and then the New Orleans Arena from 1997 to 2002. They folded upon the arrival of the NBA franchise that became the New Orleans Pelicans, and a new NHL entrant would presumably share the 26-year-old arena, now known as Smoothie King Center, with the Pelicans.

That franchise has made the playoffs four times and won just one series in 12 seasons since becoming the Pelicans, and its average of 16,815 fans per game in 2024-25 was good for 25th in a 30-team league—doing little to suggest the city has anything beyond an NFL-centric fanbase.

3. Austin

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Once upon a time, being weird was enough.

But now Austin might be looking for something more.

Texas' capital city was the trigger for Seravalli's aforementioned report on expansion, thanks primarily to the factors that have transformed it from a mecca for quirkiness to an incubator for technology and start-up culture.

Its metro population of almost 2.5 million surpasses that of several existing teams and the hockey vibe is already present, given the proximity of the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, which plays its home games at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park—about 20 miles north of Austin via U.S. 183.

It's not an NHL-sized arena, though, given a hockey capacity of just 6,800, so it'll take a new structure to get the city into the mix as something more than a novelty.

2. Atlanta

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Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.

So it goes with the NHL in Atlanta, a city from which the Flames bolted for Calgary after the 1979-80 season and the Thrashers fled for Winnipeg after 2010-11. And it's not as if they took tradition with them, given an inglorious run of zero playoff series wins in 19 seasons and a 2-15 record in 17 postseason games.

It will be different this time, though, says Vernon Krause, CEO of Krause Sports and Entertainment, who has brought the legendary Bobby Orr on as an adviser and who was gleeful in June when Forsyth County approved plans for a $3 billion-plus development project anchored by an NHL-ready arena in the north suburbs.

Seravalli said Gary Bettman's must-haves list for expansion includes stable ownership, an NHL-ready arena and a burgeoning market, all of which seem to be checked off for Krause and Co.

So, the only question remaining would be whether a third go-round in Atlanta would make the league better. Thing is, we're not quite sure who gets blamed if we're fooled for a third time.

1. Houston

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Bobby Hull, left, and Gordie Howe in 1976.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Houston would be an ideal and overdue addition to the NHL.

The old-school Aeros won two titles and featured a 40-something Gordie Howe for four seasons of his WHA comeback in the 1970s, but Houston stepped out of hockey's brightest spotlight when it was not absorbed into the NHL in 1979.

It was a hot pick for relocation when the Cleveland Barons and Edmonton Oilers seemed on the verge of foundering in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively, but the Barons ultimately folded and the Oilers were rescued by new ownership, leaving well-heeled parties to step up now and then on Houston's expansion behalf.

That's the mantel inherited these days by billionaire Dan Friedkin, who made his fortune as a Toyota distributor and recently snatched up controlling interest in Everton of the English Premier League. He was also reportedly ready to make a play for the NBA's Boston Celtics before they went off the market.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported Friedkin had "emerged as a strong ownership option" for an NHL team and Bettman's top deputy, Bill Daly, confirmed the league had met Friedkin's group "on a number of occasions" about Houston's prospects.

Where there's smoke and $6.4 billion, there's fire.