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Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Stajan, Nylander, Buchnevich

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The NHL’s owners will be meeting on October 1st to vote on opening another NHL Expansion window, shares Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest. Strickland adds that the leading candidates for expansion are Houston, led by Tilman J. Fertitta, and Atlanta, led by Vernon Krause. NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes seconded the story, sharing that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the NHL grow to between 34 and 36 teams.

Adding the pair of southern cities to the NHL would maintain the balance between conferences, but it could throw off Divisional alignment. Every division currently holds eight teams, but additions in Houston and Atlanta could push the Central and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, up to nine. That could be an incentive for further expansion in the future, assuming the NHL keeps their structure the same.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Calgary Flames have hired longtime Flame Matt Stajan as a skills consultant. Stajan spent nine years with the Flames from 2009 to 2018 – the final years of his 15-year, 1,003-game career in the NHL. That career kicked off with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who drafted Stajan in the second round of 2002 and elevated him to the NHL two seasons later. He quickly became known for his reliable two-way play down the lineup, even briefly flirting with strong scoring with 55 and 57 points in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Those stood as career-highs, but Stajan’s responsible play carried into Calgary, earning him a consistent third-line role during an era of flux for the Flames. He’ll now bring that hockey IQ to the coaching stage, looking to support Calgary as they once again enter a new era.
  • New Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has shared that William Nylander will start training camp at center, with Max Domi on his wing, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Nylander has flirted with a center role throughout his nine-year career, but hasn’t fully absorbed the role over John Tavares. Nylander was impressive at the faceoff dot when he did take draws, recording a 51.4 faceoff percentage in 2017-18, his only year taking more than 400 faceoffs in a season. On his career, Nylander has won 963 of a possible 1,909 faceoffs, good for a 50.4 percentage. Domi will offer helpful support in the event that Nylander struggles in the new role, boasting a 52.5 faceoff percentage over the last two seasons.
  • Pavel Buchnevich will also move from the wing to center, shares Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Buchnevich has been much less successful at the faceoff dot, winning just 37.4 of his 206 faceoffs last season. He’s one of St. Louis’ most prolific scorers, forming a strong trio with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. But center depth is a sudden concern for the Blues, with players like Brayden Schenn taking a recent step back and prospects like Nikita Alexandrov failing to emerge. The Blues will look to mitigate that lacking depth by spreading out their star talent to start the year.

Atlanta-Based Owners Request Initiation Of Formal NHL Expansion Process

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Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, a new Atlanta-based ownership group named Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group, led by former NHL player Anson Carter, has formally requested the NHL begin an expansion process that would bring the league back to Atlanta, GA. Aside from Carter, the group is also composed of Neil Leibman of Top Tier Sports, Peter Simon of Simon Sports, and Aaron Zeigler of Zeigler Automotive Group.

Mentioning that discussions for an Atlanta-area expansion have been ongoing since 2019 with Commissioner Gary Bettman, the ownership group has also created a partnership with New York Life in the hopes of using the North Point location in Alpharetta, GA. The location would be around 30 miles north of central Atlanta, and about 20 miles northeast of the recently built Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves of the MLB.

Atlanta has not seen an NHL team since the 2010-11 season when the team was purchased by True North Sports & Entertainment for a reported $170MM and subsequently moved to Winnipeg to create the second version of the Winnipeg Jets. Before the Thrashers began play in the 1999-00 NHL season, Atlanta had not seen an NHL team since the 1979-80 season, with the Atlanta Flames becoming the Calgary Flames only a year later.

If the NHL Board of Governors is not warm to the idea of expansion, the new ownership group could also look to relocate a current NHL organization, namely the Arizona Coyotes. After reportedly securing a land parcel in the Phoenix area, the Coyotes organization has been extremely quiet about their future home in Arizona. Given that the Seattle Kraken paid a reported $650MM to become the 32nd team in the league, it may be more financially prudent for the Atlanta-based ownership group to relocate.

Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Thomson, Newhook

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The NHL is eyeing expansion, with commissioner Gary Bettman naming Salt Lake City, Houston, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Omaha all as cities that have expressed interest in housing an NHL club. Houston and Omaha are the only cities on the list not currently housing an ECHL club, though Omaha makes up for it with the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Division 1 NCAA team and the USHL’s Omaha Lancers juniors club. Houston did host a minor league club from 1994 to 2013, though they relocated to Des Moines Iowa ahead of the 2013-14 season. The city has been without professional hockey ever since, though this season does mark the first time since World War II that the University of Houston has hosted a club hockey team.

How the NHL will go about reconfiguring divisions if one, or all, of these five cities receive a team is unclear. The list seemingly places three clubs undeniably in the Western Conference – Salt Lake City, Houston, and Omaha – while Atlanta would settle back into their place in the Eastern Conference. Cincinnati would be the toss-up, with the city situated perfectly on the line of conference ambiguity. It’s west of Detroit and Columbus – two teams that have spent time in both conferences – but still east of Nashville, a city that could reasonably mark where the Western Conference ends and the Eastern Conference begins. It seems most likely that Cincinnati will be the balancing piece in any new NHL expansions, if and when they happen.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Ottawa Senators are open to shopping around defenseman Lassi Thomson, per team reporter Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. A recent report on Sweden’s Expressen shared that the defenseman could return to Scandinavian hockey, joining the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. This rumored move could be a driving factor in any trade talks, as Ottawa will surely want a return on their investment and any recipient will want to ensure they’re getting a long-term piece. Thomson, 23, has spent all season in the AHL, totaling 11 points through 40 games. He’s also added 40 penalty minutes and a -11. All of these stats are a step down from Thomson’s 2022-23 season, when he managed 33 points, 28 penalty minutes, and a -9 through 56 AHL games. The former 2019 first-round pick played two seasons in the Liiga, Finland’s top league, after being drafted and before his career in North American pros began at the end of the 2020-21 season.
  • Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Newhook is aiming for a return soon, says team general manager Kent Hughes. Newhook was announced as out for 10-to-12 weeks in early-December after suffering a high ankle sprain. That projection places his return in mid-February, at the earliest – though his return to the ice in late January suggests he’s progressing nicely. Newhook has appeared in 23 games with Montreal this season, scoring seven goals and 13 points. It’s his first time playing in Canada since his two-year stretch in the BCHL prior to being drafted. The Canadiens traded a 2023 first and second round draft pick, as well as Gianni Fairbrother, to the Colorado Avalanche this summer in exchange for Newhook.

Snapshots: Mississauga, Atlanta, Klingberg

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The OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads are likely playing their final season in the Toronto suburb. The team’s ownership is “in the process of conducting the necessary due diligence” to move the franchise to Brampton beginning with the 2024-25 season, a media release states Wednesday.

Brampton last hosted OHL hockey in the 2012-13 season, after which the Battalion franchise relocated to North Bay, Ontario. Professionally, the Brampton Beast also played in the CHL for the 2013-14 campaign and in the ECHL from 2014 to 2020.

The Steelheads franchise began play in the 1997-98 season as the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, moving to the suburbs after 10 years in downtown Toronto. The team rebranded as the Steelheads in 2012 after being purchased from former Senators owner Eugene Melnyk.

Only four miles separates the current home of the Steelheads and the presumptive home of the team in Brampton, the Powerade Center, which the Battalion last played in prior to relocation. The Steelheads only boast one NHL-affiliated prospect at the moment, Stars 2023 sixth-round pick Angus MacDonell. Notable NHLers to suit up for the Steelheads in the past decade include Stars players Thomas Harley and Mason Marchment, Oilers center Ryan McLeod, and Flyers winger Owen Tippett.

Some other items of note from around the hockey sphere:

  • Sticking with relocation/expansion talk, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the proposed area development in Forsyth County outside of Atlanta is nearing government approval. Previous reports have indicated county funding for the project is contingent on NHL expansion intent. One week ago, Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group also requested the initiation of a formal expansion process by the league.
  • Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg intends to resume his NHL career after recovering from season-ending hip surgery, TSN’s Chris Johnston said Tuesday. The 31-year-old signed a one-year, $4.15MM contract with Toronto in free agency but played only 14 games before being shut down for the remainder of the season. Johnston reports the specific procedure that Klingberg underwent is similar to the surgery Red Wings forward Patrick Kane had last summer, which carried a hefty recovery timeframe but did not impact his ability to return to NHL play. It’s unclear if Toronto will have interest in retaining Klingberg at a reduced price next summer should he be able to continue playing.

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