Don’t look now, but another round of NHL expansion may be in the cards before too long. Just don’t expect Team 33 or 34 to be headed north of the border.

Expansion has been good to the NHL in recent years. The Vegas Golden Knights are coming off their first Stanley Cup, while the second-year Seattle Kraken knocked off the defending champions from Colorado in the first round after securing their first post-season berth in franchise history. Next year, the Golden Knights and Kraken will meet outdoors at T-Mobile Park in Seattle for the 2024 Winter Classic.

And while 32 teams is a nice number (perfectly divisible by four to facilitate even divisions), there is growing speculation another round of expansion is on the horizon. Now, the NHL is always coy when it comes to such matters, but the rumblings are hard to ignore. 

“Expansion is not on the top of our priority list,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly during the Stanley Cup final in Vegas. “But the good news is that there are a lot of people interested in owning NHL franchises in a lot of different markets.”

If you want to get a sense of the most intriguing markets, look south. Of the top 10 TV markets in the United States, only two lack an NHL franchise: Atlanta (No. 6) and Houston (No. 7). And that’s an important metric in pro sports.

One intriguing destination for an Atlanta team would be about 30 miles north of the city near the Fulton-Forsyth County line. A massive project called The Gathering at South Forsyth was announced in April. It’s spearheaded by local car dealership magnate Vernon Krause. The Gathering, which plans to feature residential units, shops, restaurants, 450 hotel rooms and – most importantly to the sporting world – an arena capable of seating 18,500 fans, has generated a lot of buzz since its announcement.

Krause’s representative on the project is Stafford Sports. Stafford’s managing partner, Carl Hirsh, has shepherded countless arenas, including multiple NHL buildings, into existence in his illustrious career. The hope is that ground-breaking for the rink at The Gathering will happen in September 2024, with completion by October 2026. 

“We’re right on Highway 400, which is known as ‘Tech Highway’ in Georgia because that’s where all the young tech companies are moving to,” Hirsh said. “And we’re in the 16th-wealthiest county in the country.”

Indeed, Forsyth County has grown leaps and bounds in the past decade, which is why the concept behind The Gathering would be great for the NHL – or any other suitor. 

“We are building this building because we think it works without hockey,” Hirsh said. “We think it would be fabulous with hockey or any other professional sports, but all our research tells us this can be successful whether or not we ever get a hockey team.”

While it’s fair to point out that two NHL franchises have already left Atlanta (the Flames in 1980 and the Thrashers in 2011), other insiders note the downtown arena was a put-off for many fans who lived in the northern suburbs and didn’t want to navigate the city’s notorious traffic congestion. Furthermore, the Thrashers were victims of an ownership debacle caused by a rift centering around the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. With finances already strained, team ownership sold the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, facilitating the move to Winnipeg and the rebranding as the Jets.

Meanwhile, there has been smoke around Houston for years now, particularly surrounding NBA Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta. According to insiders, several groups are angling toward building a new arena in the Texas metropolis, but Fertitta already has a suitable barn in the Toyota Center, where his Rockets play. And while insiders believe Fertitta would prefer not to spend $1 billion in expansion fees, they also think he would be loath to allow another group to horn in on his Houston turf.

Of course, he might not have to get an expansion team if the NHL needs to find a new home for the Arizona Coyotes. Relocation has been an even hotter topic than usual after the Coyotes lost a municipal vote to build a new arena in Tempe, something that caught pretty much everyone involved off guard. Daly acknowledged the NHL had heard directly from Utah billionaire Ryan Smith regarding his interest in bringing a team to Salt Lake City, and either Utah or Houston would keep the Coyotes in the same divisional footprint, geographically speaking.

Whichever way the NHL goes, there is pressure to get the Coyotes out of their current situation, which sees them as a secondary tenant at Arizona State University’s 4,600-seat Mullett Arena. 

“If we don’t have, in the near future, a new location, then we need to have a serious conversation,” said new NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh. “These players can’t continue to play in a college rink as NHL players. It doesn’t look right, and it doesn’t feel right.”

But what of Canada, you ask? Much to the dismay of many in the nation, it just doesn’t feel like the NHL is interested in returning to Quebec City – even with a great arena that just packed the stands for the Quebec Remparts on their way to QMJHL and Memorial Cup championships. A second team in Toronto was also met with shrugs. 

“In terms of interest and the reality of what’s involved,” said commissioner Gary Bettman, “it’s not something that seems to be resonating the way other markets and ownership requests are, for whatever reason.”

So, what would be the criteria for a new team? 

“You look at market, you look at ownership, you look at the arena and if it makes the league stronger,” Bettman said. “And I think it’s fair to say the last two expansion teams in Seattle and Vegas have made the league stronger.”

As for the talent pool, Daly wasn’t concerned. 

“I certainly don’t think player pool or supply is a concern for us,” he said. “What our owners look at in expansion is whether adding a club adds to the overall value of the league. That is the equation.”

For confirmation of this depth, you need only look at how Vegas’ former GM and current president of hockey operations, George McPhee, gamed the expansion draft to build an instant winner for his first-year Golden Knights, who shocked the sports world by going all the way to the Cup final before losing to the Washington Capitals. The Golden Knights have been consistent playoff performers ever since while unlocking the talents of previously hidden gems such as William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault.

In Seattle, GM Ron Francis saved his ammunition for the first off-season. Last summer, he took advantage of cap-strapped teams to bring in the likes of Oliver Bjorkstrand and free agents such as Andre Burakovsky. Francis also hit the waiver wire, where coach Dave Hakstol got the best out of former Nashville winger Eeli Tolvanen, who never found his place with the Predators. And given the continued growth of the game worldwide, not to mention how uncertainty in the KHL could bring more imports home, it’s fair to say the NHL has the capacity to keep adding.

This article by editor-in-chief Ryan Kennedy was featured in The Hockey News' 2023 Champions Issue. Receive the edition for free with an annual subscription at THN.com/free.