What is the future of the NHL?

Question

Let's call the potential move of Nashville to London or Kitchener, Ontario the first shoe to drop.

What do you think will be next? How will the league look in ten years?...more moves, contraction, what else?

Answer 1

I'm so disappointed in the "new NHL" - Bettman has destroyed the sport in my opinion. The Preds won't be moving any time soon. I think there will be more games played internationally, but I don't think the product will get any better or draw more fans. We need a hockey guy running things. IMHO

Answer 2

Sorry dude, the Preds have one season left in Nashville. The only way they stay is if once again the league stops Basillie from moving the team and he backs out once more but the league WILL be SUED if it happens. A restriction of commerce like that has major implications for all pro sports and Bettman could find himself in trouble with two country's government.
Contraction by 4 would be a start.

Answer 3

I don't see any move to Kitchener or London in the near future....first there is the arena thing and the Leaf/Sabre thing, and the fact that as long as Bettman is commish he would be admitting failure by moving an American team back to Canada.
As for in ten years I wish I had that kind of talent to predict...I'd be rich! But a guess is a team in KC (relocating from where I don't know) and maybe one in Winnipeg. I definitely don't see contraction (not just in the NHL but in any greedy pro sports league), and expansion would be retarded, which means Bettman will probably do it. There's my 2 cents.

Answer 4

Better Place Might just Be Kansas City, No further Expansion but here How I see it.


Eastern Conference

Atlantic

NY Isalnders
NY Rangers
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh

Northeast

Boston
Buffalo
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto

Southeast

Atlanta
Carolina
Florida
Tampa Bay
Washington

Western Confernce

Pacific

Anaheim
L.A. Kings
San Jose
Phoenix
Dallas

Central
Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Minesota
St.Louis

Northwest

Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Portland
Vancouver

Actually the Predators will move to Portland Oregon Since They also have a NHL Stlye Arena in Place there too, you'll see some surprises not all of them .

Answer 5

In ten years:
The Nashville Predators will be a team in Kitchener-Waterloo, owned by Jim Ballsilie and doing just fine financially. In classic copy-cat fashion, the NHL will have expanded to 32 teams, with four divisions per conference (like the NFL).

Eastern Conference
Canada East Division
Ottawa
Toronto
Montreal
Waterloo

New York Division
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
New Jersey
Buffalo Sabres

Southeast Divison
Florida
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Atlanta

Atlantic Division
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Washington
Boston

Western Conference
Central Division
Detroit
Columbus
St. Louis
Chicago

Canada West Division
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg

Southwest Division
Anaheim
Los Angeles
San Jose
Phoenix

Midwest Division
Dallas
Kansas City
Minnesota
Colorado

The salary cap will have gone from the original $44M up to $55M, and US coverage will be back on ESPN. In Canada, it will now be on CTV because tax-funded CBC won't be able to afford the Hockey Night in Canada contract.

Answer 6

The Preds are staying here. The city suffered tremendously during the NHL Lockout. The bars and clubs downtown. The city lost millions of dollars in taxes, parking etc. The mayor has said that Metro will do it's part to keep the team here.
The problem here is not fans buying season tickets, It's the lack of the corporate money not coming in. With Sommet Group buying the naming rights. And the nature of there buisness, I believe that will help with the corporate money. Last year we fell 500 tickets under the required 14,000 avg attendance clause. It would be hoove the city of Nashville to buy the remaining tickets. Plus Bettman has said they can't leave for at least 7 years.
pl

Answer 7

The thing with the NHL is that they have to realize that outside of the traditional cities, hockey is a fringe sport, right up there with dog shows, tractors pulls, etc. NHL got ruined when they tried to market itself as a huge sport, on par with NBA, NFL, MLB. The salaries went up and the starting plugging teams into as many new markets as possible. The product is fine, they just have to realize what they are.

Answer 8

Mark this answer.

There will be fewer Canadian teams than there are now, perhaps only Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver will remain.

The NHL is too unpredictable to say whether they will expand or contract. But if their collective track record is anything to go by, I can safely bet my life that they will do something stupid.