NHL expansion: Las Vegas has a new arena, in the running for a team

NHL executives have repeatedly said the league is not in expansion mode, nor is it ready to relocate any of its existing teams. But just because it’s not in that mode right this second doesn’t mean it can’t quickly shift into it, and we’re continually seeing chess pieces setting up for the possibility of team movement in the near future.

One of the places the NHL could potentially call home in a few years is Las Vegas, and we now have an executive from one of the largest companies in that city -- one currently building a brand new arena on the Vegas Strip -- on record discussing the NHL’s potential arrival.

As much as the NHL tries to deny it, another round of expansion seems to be inevitable. A story out of Canada on Tuesday night created quite a stir when Tony Gallagher of the Province reported that Las Vegas is pretty much a “done deal” when it comes time for the league to increase from its current 30-team alignment.

That report was quickly followed up by a tweet from Howard Bloom of the Sports Business Journal, claiming that the NHL was not only going to Vegas, but would add three additional teams by 2017 in Seattle, Quebec and Toronto. The series of moves would result in $1.4 billion in expansion fees and increase the size of the league from 30 to 34 teams.