Rangers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs Top Forbes' List of NHL's Most Valuable Teams

The New York Rangers top Forbes' 2015 list for the most valuable teams in the NHL, with an estimated value of $1.2 billion. Two Canadian franchises, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, are also valued at more than $1 billion.

Although those are impressive numbers, the research showed nine of the league's 30 teams actually lost value over the past calendar year. By contrast, Forbes' NFL estimations earlier this year showed all 32 teams increased their value by at least 19 percent.

Here's the complete NHL list from Forbes:

Rank	Team	Current Value
1	New York Rangers	$1.2 B
2	Montreal Canadiens	$1.18 B
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	$1.15 B
4	Chicago Blackhawks	$0.93 B
5	Boston Bruins	$0.75 B
6	Vancouver Canucks	$0.75 B
7	Philadelphia Flyers	$0.66 B
8	Detroit Red Wings	$0.6 B
9	Los Angeles Kings	$0.58 B
10	Washington Capitals	$0.56 B
11	Pittsburgh Penguins	$0.56 B
12	Edmonton Oilers	$0.46 B
13	Dallas Stars	$0.45 B
14	San Jose Sharks	$0.45 B
15	Calgary Flames	$0.44 B
16	Anaheim Ducks	$0.4 B
17	Minnesota Wild	$0.38 B
18	Ottawa Senators	$0.37 B
19	Colorado Avalanche	$0.36 B
20	Winnipeg Jets	$0.35 B
21	New Jersey Devils	$0.33 B
22	New York Islanders	$0.33 B
23	Buffalo Sabres	$0.3 B
24	St Louis Blues	$0.27 B
25	Tampa Bay Lightning	$0.26 B
26	Nashville Predators	$0.26 B
27	Columbus Blue Jackets	$0.23 B
28	Carolina Hurricanes	$0.23 B
29	Arizona Coyotes	$0.22 B
30	Florida Panthers	$0.19 B

While the estimates showcase the success of hockey in certain areas, especially the Original Six teams, nontraditional markets like Arizona and Florida continue to lag behind. Those organizations also rank near the bottom in average attendance, per ESPN.

Add that to the fact that nearly a third of the teams are projected to have lost value this year, it raises questions about the viability of the NHL's expansion efforts. It's unclear whether there's enough widespread interest to add two more successful fanbases.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated earlier this month that the expansion research is ongoing and no new teams are imminent, per Craig Custance of ESPN:

"

That's accurate. There is no timeline. If we expand at all, [the 2017-18 season] would be the earliest. There is no timeline. The executive committee is going to meet and begin deliberating at the same time at the board meeting when we meet in early December, and I can't tell you what the result is going to be at those deliberations. 

"

Right now, it seems like the franchises with long histories are doing well to find consistent success financially. There's a lot of work to do to close the gap between the Rangers, Canadiens and Maple Leafs from those organizations at the bottom, however.

Whether the league lets that alter its expansion outlook is a key question moving forward.