Re-Ranking Cities for NHL Expansion in the Next Five Years
Prepare yourselves, NHL fans. Expansion is coming again. Eventually.
When the NHL gave the green light to examine what Austin, Texas could bring to the table for potential league expansion, it more or less put out in the open what we've all expected was coming on the horizon, in that we'd see more teams joining the hockey world in the somewhat near future.
While Austin is seemingly on deck, they've still got to prove to the league that they can pull it off. The thing is, even if Austin doesn't prove their case, we already know of a few other cities that have interest and could be next up for a team.
We know the NHL won't want to expand by one team and will want to add two when the time comes. We're going to break down all the potential expansion candidates and rank them on how we see things. There'll be more than one familiar city on this list and more than a couple new ones. Gear up your takes, we'll want to hear 'em.
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
1 of 7
The city of New Orleans has a long sports history with the Saints and the NBA, with the Jazz and Pelicans, but hockey? Although New Orleans was cited as a potential location for expansion a year ago, it would seem like a long shot to get an NHL team.
Hockey's history in New Orleans was short-lived in the ECHL with the New Orleans Brass (1997-2002) and hasn't had a foothold since. The Benson family owns both the Saints and Pelicans currently, and finding others willing to make a major investment in the city sports-wise seems like a long shot.
That said, with the Pelicans as the sole tenant at Smoothie King Center, there is an arena available for hockey but if the cost is in the billions to join the NHL, it would seem very unlikely that New Orleans would fight through to become a front runner to land a franchise.
6. Indianapolis, Indiana
2 of 7
One city with a brief and long-ago hockey history is Indianapolis. It's where Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier's pro careers started in the WHA with the Racers in 1978, before the team was sold to Peter Pocklington and became the Edmonton Oilers. Indianapolis is also a city Frank Seravalli cited a year ago as a potential future NHL site.
Indianapolis has been home to an ECHL team, the Fuel, since 2014, and as the home of the NFL's Colts, NBA's Pacers, and a regular site for the Men's NCAA Basketball Final Four, there's bones there for professional success. Obviously, they would need ownership and investors and with the beefy cost involved for expansion, it would be a huge ask for a mid-size market.
5. Québec City, Québec
3 of 7
All of Canada and plenty of old-school NHL fans would love to see Québec City return to the NHL. They've got an arena ready for a potential return with the Videotron Centre, they've got a long history with the Nordiques, and they've got a passionate fan base ready to love the NHL again.
Unfortunately, many of the issues that forced the Nordiques to move to Denver in 1995 are back with a vengeance. The Canadian dollar is weak against the US dollar, and the population in Québec City hasn't grown.
As cool as it would be to see a team back in Northern Québec, the chances of seeing it happen again seem small and with the cost of expansion skyrocketing in the NHL, the chances of seeing a dedicated ownership group out of Québec eager to pony up the money needed to make it happen in comparison to the number of American investors ready to bring more hockey to more American markets makes it even more difficult.
4. Phoenix, Arizona
4 of 7
Speaking of remembering some (not so) old teams, remember the Arizona Coyotes? We hope so because they haven't been gone all that long.
The City of Phoenix will always be attractive to the NHL because it's a huge media market, and it's one the league worked tirelessly to support for more than two decades until its last owners proved they had failed everyone. Whether it's in Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Tempe, if an ownership group steps forward and can build a new arena for NHL hockey, the league will be all ears to bringing a team back there.
The biggest issue for returning hockey to the desert, however, is whether it'll be sooner or much later down the road. With the league looking into Austin, Houston, and other cities trying to get to the front of the line for expansion, Arizona will need to get organized quickly to cut to the head of the line.
3. Atlanta, Georgia
5 of 7
When the Thrashers left Atlanta after the 2011 season, it seemed like it would take a long time before the NHL would return to Georgia. It was the second time a team left Atlanta and relocated to Canada, although the circumstances around the Thrashers' departure to Winnipeg were marred by poor ownership.
With a solid group of investors and a plan to build an arena closer to its season-ticket base, Atlanta forced its way back into the expansion conversation. With two separate groups vying for attention and two separate arena plans to go with it, the big picture is still a bit disorganized. And with the NHL looking to add teams once again, if the Atlanta groups can get things figured out, they can bring hockey back to Georgia sooner rather than later.
With Austin moving to the forefront of the discussion and Houston hot on its tail, Atlanta sits third on our list, but in reality, could be No. 2 if either Austin or Houston falls out of the running.
2. Houston, Texas
6 of 7
Hockey's history in Houston is immense. The Howe family played there in the 1970s with the WHA Houston Aeros, and the impression they made there stayed with hockey fans for ages. The Aeros returned to Houston with the IHL and AHL in the mid-90s and into the 2000s, and with Dan Friedkin exploring an NHL expansion franchise, it seems a matter of where he'll get it and when it will happen.
While the NHL is busy exploring Austin's viability, Houston is part of that examination as well. Houston is a massive city and media market and already has the NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS, and NWSL. With a billionaire like Friedkin at the forefront of an NHL bid and him already having a foothold in Houston, almost everything is in place for an NHL franchise.
If it's a race between Austin and Houston, it would almost seem like Houston should be the frontrunner, but there's a reason why they're not No. 1 on our ranking.
1. Austin, Texas
7 of 7
It's not set in stone that the NHL will expand right away, but if they do within the next few years, a team in Texas seems all but assured, with Dan Friedkin ready to plunk down billions to make it happen. The NHL is ready to indulge that by exploring the process, looking more closely at both Austin and Houston, and the possibility of an NHL franchise in Austin seems strong.
Austin is a Texas city with a huge population and one major league sports team in Austin FC of the MLS. They've been the home of the Texas Stars, Dallas' AHL team, since 2009. It's also home to the University of Texas Longhorns, which is huge in an entirely different way, especially in football. But for a city as big as Austin (population just over a million) and with none of the Big Four sports in place, adding the NHL offers the league an opportunity to get in on the ground floor in a city that will go big for it.
While Austin and Houston are in competition in their own way, and the Stars are about to move out of downtown Dallas, Austin getting its own team in a university and tech city, with no local competition for pro sports attention, means they could thrive instantly. Austin fits the MO from what we've seen in NHL expansion with Vegas and Seattle by having owners eager to be part of the league, savvy sports fans (Seattle), or minimal competition for major league sports (Las Vegas). That's what puts them at the top of our rankings.
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