There hasn’t been talk surrounding league expansion, rumors have been spreading regarding the current stage process.
After a report surfaced that claimed Quebec City was eliminated from consideration by the league, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly released a statement denying that any sort of decision has been made regarding the process.
“We will not comment on the substance of our process, which remains ongoing,” Daly said via press release. “No final decisions have been reached and no recommendation of any kind has been made or communicated by the League Office or the Executive Committee either to the NHL Players’ Association or to the NHL Board of Governors.”
It’s almost a guarantee, based on the ticket drive and arena plans, that Las Vegas will get a team in time for the 2017-18 season, but Quebec City is a whole different story. Because of the falling Canadian dollar, there is a lot of skepticism that the league would be returning to the city it left in 1995. There has even been rumblings that the league’s salary cap may even drop because of the status of the dollar.
There is no timetable as to when a recommendation will be made to the Board of Governors regarding expanding the NHL from 30 teams to either 31 or 32.