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Austin Market Interested In NHL Expansion Franchise

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The Austin, Texas market is among those interested in joining the next round of National Hockey League expansion, reports Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

The NHL recently began cautiously expanding beyond the 30-team norm it had maintained for most of the 2020s, following a 17-year hiatus since the introduction of the Blue Jackets and Wild into the league. Most anticipated that the recent additions of the Golden Knights (2017) and the Kraken (2021) would be enough to satiate new markets for a while.

Skyrocketing franchise valuations have more than tripled prospective expansion fees, to the point where the league has informed interested parties that they’re commanding a $2B payment for a 33rd franchise, per Seravalli. That’s four times more than the $500K Vegas paid for entry and a much more aggressive increase than the Kraken faced at a $650K expansion fee.

The league has already had early success venturing into a new market with the cobbled-together relocation and sale of the Arizona Coyotes, which has become the franchise now known as the Utah Mammoth. There has also been considerable public interest from an Atlanta-based group to become the NHL’s 33rd team, with the group requesting a formal expansion process last year. A second Atlanta-based group, led by Vernon Krause, is further ahead in the effort to bring the league back to Georgia and recently cleared a significant hurdle in building a new arena in Forsyth County.

An expansion into the Eastern Conference in Atlanta would presumably be coupled in near succession with a Western Conference market. That’s where Austin could come in, particularly if the Phoenix/Arizona market continues to struggle with constructing an NHL-ready arena to entice the league to return there. The league has remained adamant that it won’t actively solicit expansion bids or open a formal expansion process and is under no pressure to add teams. Still, it will consider compelling applications sent its way.

According to Seravalli, the league informed the Board of Governors this week that it has received legitimate expressions of interest from five markets: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Indianapolis, and New Orleans. For Canadian fans hoping for an eighth NHL team north of the border, it still doesn’t appear that’s in the cards anytime soon.

Snapshots: Brisson, Atlanta, Roadrunners, CBA Talks

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As the Kings continue their search for their new general manager, it appears they kicked the tires on assessing veteran agent Pat Brisson’s interest in the position.  However, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Brisson is not expected to be interviewed for the role as he doesn’t have any interest in leaving his agent role with CAA.  Brisson was believed to be contacted regarding Montreal’s opening a few years ago but wasn’t interested in leaving then either.  He has 94 active NHL contracts, per PuckPedia, carrying a combined cap hit this season of more than $266MM so it’s not surprising that he wants to remain an agent.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • There has been interest in pitching another Atlanta expansion franchise and it appears one group is getting close to making a formal expression of interest. In an appearance on 11 Alive News (video link), Vernon Krause, who is putting together an arena project in Forsyth County, stated that his group is in the “home stretch” to present a “completed package” to the league after the playoffs end next month.  The city had NHL hockey from 1972 to 1980 before the Flames moved to Calgary.  Their second run lasted a little longer, going from 1999 to 2011 before the Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg.  With Krause stating that his intent is to show his group is “shovel-ready” when it comes to an arena, he’ll be trying to make the case that the third time could be the charm.
  • Utah’s AHL team will remain in Tucson for next season, relays longtime team reporter Craig Morgan (Twitter link). However, the Mammoth could be moving their farm team before too much longer.  Nevada Sportsnet’s Chris Murray relayed earlier this week that the Reno Redevelopment Agency Board approved a $435MM arena proposal spearheaded by former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, who remains the owner of the Roadrunners.  Morgan notes that the Roadrunners are contracted to stay in Tucson for two more years but those might be the final two years in that city.
  • Speaking to reporters today including Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman indicated that CBA talks are progressing nicely and he hopes to have an extension in place sooner than later. Discussions started earlier this year, well in advance of the expiration of the current agreement in mid-September 2026.

NHL Met With Group Interested In Houston Expansion

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According to a report from ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the NHL has a ’strong ownership candidate emerging’ for a potential expansion to Houston. Dan Friedkin, owner and chief executive officer of The Friedkin Group, has reportedly met with league executives on multiple occasions to discuss expansion in southeast Texas.

Friedkin isn’t a stranger to sports ownership. He’s the owner and president of two European football clubs, Roma of the Serie A League and Everton of the English Premier League. According to Forbes World’s Billionaire List, Friedkin ranks 432nd with a projected net worth of $6.4BB. He made most of his worth presiding over Gulf States Toyota Distributors, which was founded by his father, Thomas Friedkin, in 1969.

Although Friedkin or The Friedkin Group didn’t confirm the news, Kaplan reports that NHL commissioner deputy Bill Daly has confirmed the ongoing discussions in an email. Still, there have not been reports suggesting that the NHL is actively seeking to add another team, as most of their discussions appear to be merely preliminary.

It’s not because of a lack of interest. The most recent expansion report indicated that a group from New Orleans, LA was interested in hosting another team. Furthermore, groups from Atlanta, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Omaha have expressed interest in NHL expansion, with Atlanta likely being the most viable candidate despite losing two NHL teams already.

Given his sports ownership overseas, Friedkin likely leads the pack in any future expansion at this point. A team in Houston would have a built-in rival already in the Dallas Stars, and have access to the fourth-highest population according to the 2020 census.

NHL Met With Group Interested In New Orleans Expansion

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The NHL held a recent meeting with a group interested in acquiring an expansion team for the New Orleans market at the league’s offices in New York, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin Weekes of ESPN on Wednesday.

In terms of expansion interest and likelihood, this is about as preliminary as it can get. League commissioner Gary Bettman has remained as noncommittal as possible about when the league will increase past 32 teams after incorporating Vegas and Seattle in the last decade. The league’s preference for team No. 33 will be a return to the Phoenix area after facilitating the Coyotes’ sale to Utah and, through a complicated process, retaining the club’s intellectual and branding rights. A local group comprised of government and business officials met with Bettman last month, but the area still needs a new arena to house an NHL franchise – which there’s been no tangible progress toward completing since the Coyotes’ departure.

New Orleans joins a long list of cities interested in an NHL club. Houston and Atlanta either already have or are in the process of constructing an NHL-ready arena and have had multiple groups express interest in acquiring a franchise within the last two years. Cincinnati, Hamilton, Kansas City, Omaha, Quebec City, and Saskatoon continue as speculative destinations for a further round of expansion – it’s difficult to imagine some combination of Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix comprising teams 33 and 34.

The only professional team to carry a New Orleans moniker was the ECHL’s New Orleans Brass, who were briefly affiliated with the Sharks and spent five years in the league from 1997-98 to 2001-02. They were the first tenant of what’s now called the Smoothie King Center, home to the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, but were forced to fold when the city demanded them to shoulder the costs of converting the arena to a basketball configuration. The building held a capacity of 16,900 when configured for hockey.

The Baton Rouge Zydeco of the FPHL, two levels of play below the ECHL, is the only professional hockey team currently operational in Louisiana. They’re in just their second season of play.

Gary Bettman Meets With Group Regarding Arizona Expansion Franchise

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently met with a newly formed committee of Maricopa County “political and business leaders” interested in pursuing an expansion franchise to bring the league back to the Arizona market, former Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reports.

The now-deactivated Coyotes franchise’s hopes of a revival, at least under former majority owner Alex Meruelo, ended in June when the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction Meruelo intended to use to purchase a plot for a new arena and entertainment district because the organization failed to obtain the proper zoning permits. Shortly after, Meruelo informed Coyotes staff that he was relinquishing ownership of the franchise and officially returned the team’s branding and intellectual property to the league a few weeks later.

The situation ended a years-long saga in which multiple owners, Meruelo in particular, failed to stabilize the fledgling club on and off the ice. In the 2022 offseason, the team was effectively kicked out of its longtime, inconveniently located home in Glendale, forcing it to strike a deal with Arizona State University to share its new multipurpose Mullett Arena, which held fewer than 5,000 people for hockey. 

After two years in the temporary facility and no firm plan for a permanent home in sight, Meruelo struck a multi-part deal with the league to sell the franchise to Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group, birthing the Utah Hockey Club out of the Coyotes’ former hockey operations assets. Meruelo could reactivate the Coyotes franchise and trigger an expansion draft if specific timelines were met on a new arena. However, after the auction was canceled, that was no longer plausible.

So, while the potential of the Coyotes’ name and logo resurfacing in the coming years persists, it will be with a blank slate roster-wise and ownership-wise in a new arena. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman Tom Galvin, who’s at the head of the advisory committee, told Morgan that he’s “had several meetings with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and he looks forward to working with us to identify an owner and the best location for a world-class building.”

There’s still much work to be done before Arizona can once again be seriously considered as an expansion destination, though. Not only does the advisory committee need to develop a pathway toward building a new NHL-caliber facility, but they also need to identify a stable ownership group willing to take on the project. That could come from NBA Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who told Barry M. Bloom of Sportico in July that he’s interested in acquiring an expansion franchise and has long-term plans to build a new arena in downtown Phoenix.

Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Stajan, Nylander, Buchnevich

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The NHL’s owners will be meeting on October 1st to vote on opening another NHL Expansion window, shares Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest. Strickland adds that the leading candidates for expansion are Houston, led by Tilman J. Fertitta, and Atlanta, led by Vernon Krause. NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes seconded the story, sharing that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the NHL grow to between 34 and 36 teams.

Adding the pair of southern cities to the NHL would maintain the balance between conferences, but it could throw off Divisional alignment. Every division currently holds eight teams, but additions in Houston and Atlanta could push the Central and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, up to nine. That could be an incentive for further expansion in the future, assuming the NHL keeps their structure the same.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Calgary Flames have hired longtime Flame Matt Stajan as a skills consultant. Stajan spent nine years with the Flames from 2009 to 2018 – the final years of his 15-year, 1,003-game career in the NHL. That career kicked off with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who drafted Stajan in the second round of 2002 and elevated him to the NHL two seasons later. He quickly became known for his reliable two-way play down the lineup, even briefly flirting with strong scoring with 55 and 57 points in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Those stood as career-highs, but Stajan’s responsible play carried into Calgary, earning him a consistent third-line role during an era of flux for the Flames. He’ll now bring that hockey IQ to the coaching stage, looking to support Calgary as they once again enter a new era.
  • New Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has shared that William Nylander will start training camp at center, with Max Domi on his wing, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Nylander has flirted with a center role throughout his nine-year career, but hasn’t fully absorbed the role over John Tavares. Nylander was impressive at the faceoff dot when he did take draws, recording a 51.4 faceoff percentage in 2017-18, his only year taking more than 400 faceoffs in a season. On his career, Nylander has won 963 of a possible 1,909 faceoffs, good for a 50.4 percentage. Domi will offer helpful support in the event that Nylander struggles in the new role, boasting a 52.5 faceoff percentage over the last two seasons.
  • Pavel Buchnevich will also move from the wing to center, shares Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Buchnevich has been much less successful at the faceoff dot, winning just 37.4 of his 206 faceoffs last season. He’s one of St. Louis’ most prolific scorers, forming a strong trio with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. But center depth is a sudden concern for the Blues, with players like Brayden Schenn taking a recent step back and prospects like Nikita Alexandrov failing to emerge. The Blues will look to mitigate that lacking depth by spreading out their star talent to start the year.

NBA Owner Mat Ishbia Expresses Interest In Bringing NHL Back To Phoenix

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With former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo out of the picture, most have turned their focus to NBA Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia as the likeliest option to bring an NHL franchise back to the Phoenix area. Speaking with Sportico’s Barry M. Bloom, Ishbia confirmed acquiring an expansion franchise for Phoenix is something he’s “interested in.”

Doing so would require a new home. After all, the Coyotes’ inability to land a suitable permanent arena within the Phoenix metro area was what ultimately led to their hockey operations being sold to Salt Lake City’s Smith Entertainment Group, taking on new life as the Utah Hockey Club.

Ishbia realizes this and is keen on addressing it, even selfishly for his Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, which he also owns. He told Bloom that “a new downtown Phoenix edifice is part of the long-term plan,” regardless of whether NHL expansion to Phoenix occurs or not.

Asked about what transpired with the Coyotes under the Meruelo regime, Ishbia told Bloom that he was “disappointed we don’t have a hockey team here.” “Phoenix is a four-sport town… and I hope that one day we’ll be able to get hockey back,” he added.

But the NHL returning to Phoenix after the disbanding of the Coyotes in short order was already part of the plan. The original deal struck with Meruelo upon the sale of the Yotes’ assets to Utah in April assured him an exclusive five-year window to reactivate the Coyotes and trigger an expansion draft should he get a suitable arena built to replace the 4,600-seat Mullett Arena that hosted them for the last two seasons. But Meruelo’s plan to develop a lot in north Phoenix fell through after a city auction to purchase the land was canceled due to Meruelo’s group failing to obtain the proper zoning permits beforehand.

Ishbia “wouldn’t say if he’s already talking to the NHL, and the league didn’t respond when asked to comment,” Bloom wrote. But if discussions advance in the next few years alongside plans for a new arena, it wouldn’t surprise many to see the Phoenix market re-added to the league within the next ten years. The league retained the branding rights to the Coyotes when Meruelo conceded his rights to the franchise earlier this month, which could be sold to Ishbia as part of an expansion deal.

Houston Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Hoping To Add An NHL Team

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The owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Tilman Fertitta, is reportedly in talks with the NHL about bringing a team to Texas’ biggest city, Bloomberg reports (subscription required). The NHL is the last of the major male sports leagues to not have a team in Houston, with the NBA, NFL, MLB, and MLS all existing in the city since 2005. Fertitta told Bloomberg, “We are talking to the NHL, but it’s got to be good for both of us… We just know that when there’s a concert downtown, how it activates downtown, we know what the Astros do for downtown, we know what even soccer does for downtown.”

Fertitta mentions that he’s been discussing an NHL team with the league ever since his acquisition of the Rockets in 2017, but that talks have recently ramped up – even sharing that he’s received interest from Houston suburbs willing to host a team, though Fertitta would prefer to keep the arena downtown. Fertitta’s Rockets currently play out of the Toyota Center, which recently underwent renovations to make it suitable for a hockey team.

Houston has been named as one of six cities interested in potential NHL expansion, with Salt Lake City, Utah, requesting official initiation of an NHL expansion process. The request was made by the Smith Entertainment Group, which also owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, as well as teams in both the MLS and NWSL. The NHL called Salt Lake a “promising market” and acknowledged the next steps they’re taking towards making Utah their newest host. Houston may soon enter a similar process, now expressing interest in a team a month after Salt Lake City’s request.

While both cities could make sense for an expansion team, the NHL could also eye them as potential landing spots for the Arizona Coyotes, if the team’s ownership can’t make progress on a new arena soon enough. The NHLPA recently shared that Arizona has missed two deadlines to find a new arena, adding significant pressure to the search. That pressure is no doubt added to now with two billionaire ownership groups with ties to the NBA and other professional sports leagues declaring their interest in an NHL club.

Evening Snapshots: Coyotes, Blue Jackets, Acciari

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For the past two decades, the Arizona Coyotes have been looking for a long-term home for the franchise. Originally moving to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996, the team played at the America West Center until 2003, when they made the move to Gila River Arena before finally landing at Mullett Arena at the start of the 2022-23 NHL season. With a desperate need to find a long-term arena, the Coyotes are once again locked in a battle with several local governments to get funding.

Although two artificial deadlines have come and passed, Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff wrote today that an answer could come within the next few weeks, and potentially as early as the upcoming weekend. In the article, Seravalli listed three possibilities still on the table for the resolution: break ground on a publicly funded parcel of land, sell the team to secure private funding in the Phoenix Metro area or move the team to Salt Lake City, UT.

Being the most interesting option of the three, the idea of moving or creating a team in Salt Lake City has picked up steam in the last few weeks, especially with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith requesting the initiation of a formal expansion process on January 24th. While missing the playoffs in 17 of 26 seasons, a bankruptcy, and multiple different ownership changes, the idea of the Coyotes moving north to Utah may become a very realistic possibility in the near future.

Other snapshots:

  • Although they will not be hosting the 2025 Winter Classic, reports are alluding to the idea that the Columbus Blue Jackets may be hosting a Stadium Series game as soon as next season (Article Link). Being one of only a handful of teams not to host an outdoor game up to this point, the Blue Jackets appear set to host an outdoor game at Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program. Although nothing has been confirmed yet for the 2024-25 NHL season, the article indicates that NHL representatives were seen surveying the property during Ohio State’s game against the Michigan State Spartans on November 11th.
  • During the team’s game tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that forward Noel Acciari would not return to the game. During the second period, Winnipeg defenseman Brenden Dillon delivered a hit that made contact with Acciari’s head, resulting in a match penalty on the play. After receiving the hit from Dillon, Acciari attempted to get up, but quickly fell back down on the ice, indicating that he may be headed for concussion protocol.

Salt Lake City-Based Owners Request Initiation Of Formal NHL Expansion Process

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Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group filed a request for initiation of a formal expansion process by the NHL, according to a press release Wednesday. SEG owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, MLS’ Real Salt Lake, and the NWSL’s Utah Royals.

This is the next step in the process that’s been ongoing since Ryan Smith, the head of SEG, expressed interest in receiving an NHL squad over a year ago. Salt Lake City has frequently been included in discussions as a potential relocation option if the Coyotes’ lack of a full-time arena in the Phoenix area goes unresolved.

In a statement, the NHL said they “have been impressed by [the Smiths’] commitment to their community” and called Utah “a promising market.” The league did not outline concrete next steps in a potential expansion bid but did confirm they would continue discussions with SEG.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has not yet discussed a Salt Lake City expansion with the league’s Board of Governors, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun says. Owner approval is the next large benchmark in the awarding of an expansion franchise.

If the Coyotes don’t have a formal arena plan filed with the league by the end of the month, expect relocation discussions to spread rapidly. Assumedly, Salt Lake City would still be in discussions as a relocation option, not expansion, given its proximity to the Coyotes’ current home and an NHL-ready arena in the Delta Center, home of the Jazz. The city also has concrete plans to construct a new, hockey-specific venue within the next ten years in anticipation of the 2034 Winter Olympics.

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