NHL Executive Committee Recommends Seattle Expansion

The group trying to bring the NHL to Seattle—including city mayor Jenny Durkan, Oak View Group (OVG) CEO Tim Leiweke—met with the NHL’s Board of Governors Executive Committee today in New York, and discussed the plan for expansion for several hours. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman then spoke to reporters including Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, and announced that the committee’s “formal recommendation” was to move forward with the application. The board will vote in December on the motion, and seems likely to approve the expansion at this point. Both sides today agreed that the 2020-21 season is the target, though obviously there are still several hurdles to overcome before then. Chris Daniels of K5 News in Seattle reports that the committee’s recommendation was unanimous.

Plenty of other tidbits are coming out about the Seattle expansion process, including the fact that the Vegas Golden Knights will be exempt from the expansion draft whenever it comes about, but the biggest takeaway from today is that the league seems ready and willing to welcome this investment group into the fold. Seattle is on track to become the league’s 32nd team, and clubs will now have to start (if they haven’t already) preparing their rosters for another draft.

The Seattle City Council recently approved plans for the arena construction proposed by OVG, contingent on this recommendation meaning things should move forward on their end as well. That demolition and reconstruction of the current building and area is the key to when Seattle would start playing, as it won’t actually start until the vote in December at the earliest. Projects like this often face delays, but it seems as though everyone is working towards a 2020-21 entrance into the league—assuming the league doesn’t have a work stoppage at the time triggered by the upcoming CBA negotiations.