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There are two questions I am trying to ask here. Would you like to see a new NHL team in a city that has no team, or another team in a city that already has a team.
New York City (Rangers, Islanders) and Los Angeles (Kings, Ducks) have two NHL teams. Some might even consider the New Jersey Devils part of the NYC market.
In my opinion, I would like to see one more team in the Bay Area. Yes San Jose is a good city, but what about a hockey team in San Francisco?
I also think Baltimore should have a NHL to go along with the Capitals. Maybe even another team in Minneapolis since the Wild are in St. Paul.
As far as a city that doesn’t have a team yet, I have a few in mind. Albany, New York. Salt Lake City, Utah. Maybe even New Orleans.
I don't think there is enough interest for a second team in the Bay area and I'm not sure if Baltimore is a hockey town. Minneapolis isn't big enough market for two teams and Albany isn't big enough for a major league team. New Orleans and Salt Lake are unlikely hockey markets.
There is zero chance the NHL expands to Hartford. Zero.
New England has precisely one franchise in each of the big four North American leagues. And the Bruins already have the NHL covered, and it's only 100 miles from Hartford. The New York metro is also 100 miles away, and it has three (three!) NHL teams.
Quebec? Sure. That's probably one of the top three candidates, along with Houston and maybe Hamilton.
But the era of expansion is largely over. The sixties saw the four leagues go from 44 teams to 76 teams. The 1970s saw another 18 teams added (minus the one that the NHL lost). Then only five teams in the 1980s (all in the NBA). An uptick in the 1990s, but then a completely flatlining for almost 20 years before the NHL's recent two additions. MLB and the NBA will probably each add a pair in the next few years to top off at 32 (like the NFL and NHL), but that will be it for some time.
The next NHL cities to get a team will do it via relocation.
The only big city of note in the US left is Houston. Atlanta already got its shot. Ohio already has a team in Columbus. Its not too far from Cleveland and Cincy.
Indy is also another city of relatively significant size, but I just dont know how popular hockey is there. They do have an ECHL team but that may or may not be an indication of anything.
KC, OKC/Tulsa, same as Indy. Anchorage has a Div 1, and NAHL team, and that is about all the population can support. Saskatchewan and the Maritime provinces do not have any cities big enough either.
AZ is likely to be the one to relocate. But if they go to Houston, they are just moving from one hot and dry city to a more humid and hot city. It will also dilute the talent too much. There are already teams that are perpetually bad. There is no point in adding more.
The amount of team right now is perfect, if not they can fold a team and just shrink.
edit, add in Milwaukee is like Indy.
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