Capitalizing on surging ratings and a booming local talent pipeline, league officials move toward a definitive deal to plant a second professional team in the Lone Star State.
The Lone Star State is one of the fastest-growing in America today, and with hockey's popularity rising alongside it, the NHL may be looking to cash in.
Much of the conversation lately has centered on the league's recent boom in ratings, which have hit some of the best marks in NHL history, riding the wave of Team USA's gold medal win at the Olympics. Hockey may be as strong as it's ever been in this country, and when a sport is growing like that, expansion inevitably enters the conversation.
Texas has quietly become one of hockey's most underrated hotbeds, with more prospects coming out of the state and getting drafted into the NHL every year. The league has taken notice.
Speaking with The Hockey News' David Alter during the NHL's European Media Tour stop in Munich, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly made clear that if a 33rd franchise is coming, it's coming to Texas.
"We have agreed on the framework of a transaction, and we're all working to get toward that," Daly told Alter, adding that the league hopes to have definitive agreements in place that would commit the franchise as early as December of this year. He also indicated the transaction could close in early 2029, with the team beginning play as early as the 2029-30 season.
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As for location, Daly explained the process has simply moved further along in Texas than anywhere else. "We're just farther along in our discussions with the interest that developed in Texas," he said to Alter, noting that talks began centered on Houston before Austin emerged as a legitimate alternative. Even so, Daly made clear Houston remains the preferred destination, saying he still thinks the priority is probably Houston.
Hockey's rise in the Lone Star State is no secret at the NHL level as players like Seth Jones, Blake Coleman and Tyler Myers have represented Texas in the league for years, and a new wave of young talent is now coming up behind them through programs like the Dallas Stars Elite AAA system.
That pipeline has already produced prospects like Allen, Texas native J.P. Hurlbert, Detroit's first-round pick at 23rd overall this year, and Jackson Crowder, a 2025 fifth-round pick of the Washington Capitals, both of whom played together on the Stars Elite 16U team, part of a growing list of players coming out of the program.
Texas has long been known as the nation's home for football, but what some may not realize is that it could be quietly becoming the same for hockey and the NHL seems to believe it.
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