In an interesting turn of events in Seattle, King 5 News is reporting that the city will announce a formal agreement with Oak View Group (OVG) to build a $600MM arena at Seattle Center. OVG is a group led by former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, and would propose to have the new building finished by 2020. It’s a big first step towards any potential NHL expansion to the city, and the group already apparently has billionaire David Bonderman as part of their financing group. That could draw interest from the league, as a brand new privately funded arena and strong financial backing is exactly the type of thing they look for in expansion.
The deal would potentially include a 39-year lease with two eight-year options, and would provide the city with tens of millions of dollars for transportation improvements and funding for community needs. While the NBA has apparently said they have no plans to expand right now, it does seem like the plan hinges on professional sports expansion. The NHL would be at the forefront of that, though it likely wouldn’t come for several years.
If the NHL did happen to go to Seattle, it would require another slight re-alignment to the divisional structure. Though the Western Conference still holds one less team than the East and would be the easy place for expansion, the Pacific division would be the likely landing spot for Seattle given its proximity to the other teams. Given Vegas’ entrance into the same division, someone would have to move to the Central division. That would be tough, as the NHL would be hesitant to break up the Edmonton-Calgary rivalry, and Arizona and Vegas are so close to the California-based teams. It would be interesting to see what direction they go—of course, this is predicated on the divisions and league staying the same until 2020, something that isn’t certain until Arizona gets onto stronger footing themselves.
While this is likely a step in the right direction, it by no means signals a definite expansion to Seattle. Though there has been an appetite for a team in the past by both league and market, there are a lot of hoops to still jump through before anything actually happens.
Would we be more likely to see an NBA/NHL team relocate or an expansion?
Right now in my opinion NBA relocation is more likely but NHL expansion is more likely being at an odd number.
The easy solution is to move the Jets into the Pacific division with a Seattle team. That would leave Seattle, the 3 California teams and the 4 western Canadien teams. Arizona and Vegas move to the Central.
Having a building is one thing…does Seattle have someone willing to pay $500 million to have an NHL team there? You need an owner.
If not, then relocation is more likely for Seattle, since Quebec already does have someone with $500 million waiting to buy one. If/when they get a team, just move the Red Wings back to the West and the Central.
1. Quebec probably will never get an expansion team unless the Canadian dollar gets closer to the US dollar. $500 to Vegas is like $650 to Quebec. I personally see relocation there as a better setup, but who knows.
2. Detroit will never go back to the West. They did it as a favor to the league the first time. Not going to happen again. Maybe Columbus though?
3. Your re-alignment solution looks good. I honestly just assumed they would go NFL style at 32. 8 4 team divisions. But yours makes sense, only flaw is how close Vegas and AZ are to LA/Anaheim.
I don’t see anyone wanting to move from the East and that is why it’s likely a Western city is going to be the next expansion city. Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston, KC all make the most sense and seem to have an interest. Others like Portland, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, etc. could also be wild card options that fit the bill as a Western city.
I think that is one of the many issues that will make it tough for Quebec to be the 32nd franchise.
1. They’d already have a team if the CDN dollar hadn’t tanked just prior to expansion. They are willing to pay $500 million. Is anyone else? That might be what gets them a team.
2. Detroit might not have a choice. The league moved them back to the East as a favor to Mike Illitch, the kingfish of owners at the time. His kids and the team (poised for a LONG decade) might not get that kind of consideration this time.
3. I put more emphasis on rivalries than geography. It makes no sense to have Winnipeg in the Central when they have great rivalries with the Canucks, Oilers and Flames. Vancouver and Seattle need to be rivals. The Coyotes have no rivals, until now with Vegas, so move them both and get something going with the Avs and Stars, too.
Having said that, they might very well go to an NFL style format. The four division winners in each conference get a home playoff series and then four wild cards from the rest of the conference make the playoffs or something like that.
We might also might see them steal the MLB wild card game idea and have 10 teams per conference make the playoffs. 4 division winners and the #5 and #6 seeds get in and then 7th plays 10th and 8th plays 9th for the final two spots.
No one seems to care.
Why would Detroit move if they are building a new arena? I’m assuming that’s what you meant
The Red Wings belong in the East and always have. The only reason that they stayed in the West for so long is because the were the upper echelon of hockey and they were the darlings of hockey for so long. But, once Chicago became the power of the West, hockey was then able to move the wings to the East where they have always belonged. Check the demographics and Chicago’s rise and you will understand what I just stated.
Seattle Whalers please
Expansion to QC. Relocate Phoenix to Seattle. Problems solved.