BY ALIN MATEESCU – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
The Editor-in-Chief of The Hockey News, Jason Kay, tweeted in mid-October that there’s “strong speculation” the league will add a second team in Toronto and one in Quebec City via expansion. While the league denied the report within hours of its publication, there is some evidence to suggest that either, or both, of those markets could get an NHL team at some point in the future.
The city council of Markham, a suburb of Toronto, is still examining plans to develop a $325 million arena, but it’s expected that former chairman of Bauer Performance Sports Ltd. Graeme Roustan and his partners will get the go-ahead on the 20,000 seat building.
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In Quebec City, the city has already given the green light for construction of a $400 million 18,000-seat arena that is expected to be completed by the fall of 2015.
There are a couple of options south of the border, as well. City and county officials have approved a $490 million professional basketball and to be build in Seattle. And let’s not forget Kansas City, who has the 17,544-seat Sprint Center that they would love to fill up 41 nights a year with a major tenant.
Ideally, these cities should get teams through relocation rather than expansion.
According to Forbes, 18 of the NHL’s 30 franchises were in the red in 2010-11, and 13 lost more than $5.0 million. With that many unhealthy markets, relocation would make more sense for the NHL. Yes, the feasibility of Seattle and Kansas City as legitimate hockey markets could be debated, though it’s hard to believe they could be any worse than Phoenix, for example.
The question then becomes which teams should get moved, and where?
You can scratch the New York Islanders off the list, right away. The only place they’re going 40 km west to Brooklyn to play in the Barclays Center at the end of the 2014-15 season after signing a 25-year lease this week. The NHL-owned Phoenix Coyotes, too, could come off the market soon and stay put. Reports suggest that Greg Jamison, the former CEO of the San Jose Sharks, is getting closer to reaching a deal to purchase the Coyotes from the league.
And while Oilers ownership have hinted at leaving Edmonton because of their failed bid in securing taxpayer funding for a proposed new arena, it is highly unlikely that they will be going anywhere.
That still leaves a whole lot of potential candidates, however. I’m looking at you Sunbelt teams. More specifically, the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Which teams do you think could be relocated?
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