NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Dishes On Possibility Of NHL Expansion Both At Home And Abroad

Despite the league already sitting at 32 teams, NHL expansion seems to come up a lot. However, while there's no shortage of interest according to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, adding expansion teams is not currently in the league's plans.

But he wouldn't rule it out in the future.

Bettman joined ESPN's NHL studio team for a segment in which he would field questions from viewers.

He was hilariously welcomed to set with a recording of boos, which surely made him feel right at home.

Bettman was asked whether any teams would be moving, with the Arizona Coyotes singled out because of their continued arena issues.

“Nobody’s moving,” Bettman said. “We like where our franchises are."

He did, however, note the news that the Washington Capitals will move a few miles to Alexandria, Virginia. Of course, that's hardly picking up and relocating to a new market.

Expansion Isn't On The Table... At Least Not At The Moment

And speaking of new markets, the Commissioner was of course asked about expansion.

“We’re getting a lot of solicitations of interest -- places like Atlanta, Quebec City, Houston, Salt Lake City,” Bettman said, per NHL.com. “It’s not something we’re focused on. We think the 32 teams we have now are in great places. We like where we are. I can’t ever say ‘never’ to anything. It’s ultimately decision. But we’re not in the middle of, or interested in starting, at least right now, an expansion process.”

Look at those cities he listed. Houston and Salt Lake City have bandied around a lot in recent years. However, it's interesting that he mentioned Atlanta first. Especially considering recent rumblings that the league might want to give the city another try... a third one.

The three American cities make sense for NHL expansions — especially Houston and Atlanta given what big markets they are — but Quebec City still doesn't. Sorry. Nostalgia aside, shoehorning an eighth Canadian team into the league doesn't make an ounce of league-wide economic sense. It just has to be mentioned to placate traditionalists and fans in Canada.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - NOVEMBER 16: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks during a press conference before the 2023 NHL Global Series in Sweden between the Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators at Avicii Arena on November 16, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)

Could The NHL Add A Team In Europe? Well, Bettman Doesn't Think It Makes Sense, And It Doesn't

That wasn't the only expansion question Bettman was asked. Ex-NHLer PK Subban asked Bettman an interesting question about the prospect of the league expanding internationally.

“Based on our schedule, it’s not practical,” Bettman said. “If you’re playing once a week (like in the NFL), you can move teams back and forth to Europe."

We already see this with the NHL's Global Series. Teams that play in that typically get a week off after making an international trek. That's not conducive for a league in which teams typically play 3-4 games per week.

However, there was another reason Bettman ixnayed expansion abroad, particularly in Northern Europe.

"But the bigger issue for us is, of the four major North American sports, we are the most internationally based, and there is an existing sports hockey infrastructure, particularly in Northern Europe in the places where we’d be strongest, and I’m not sure that the leagues -- the Swedish league, the Finnish league -- would be too happy if we came over and competed with them.”

That's a diplomatic answer because there's no doubt those leagues wouldn't be too jazzed about the NHL putting a team on their turf. Nor should they be, because the NHL would probably end up smoking them, or relegating them to a defacto minor league.

Fortunately for them, it looks like that won't be happening...

... at least not anytime soon.

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