Although the NHL finally has a perfectly even round number of teams (16 in the West and 16 in the East), there are always rumours of new teams that could join in the future or, in some instances, even replace or reform possible teams who are currently in the league.
The success of the league’s two newest teams, the Las Vegas Golden Knights (joined 2017) and Seattle Kraken (joined 2021), both on and off the ice, has been so successful that cities and possible owners are looking to get a slice of the pie.
There are a lot of major cities on the possible expansion list, from Houston to Portland to Halifax in Canada. Here is a list of possible expansion teams that we would like to see at the NHL betting sites sometime in the future.
Houston
Houston has been coming up as a possible expansion city for quite a while now, even before the Seattle Kraken joined the league. Houston itself is the 4th largest city by population in the United States and it’s also the largest to not have an NHL team.
There have long been rumours that a current team in the league, the Arizona Coyotes, could be moving to Houston. However, these rumours have been denied by the Coyotes.
A rivalry between Houston and Dallas in the NHL could turn into one of the league’s best grudge matches, but overall it’s hard to see Houston thriving in the NHL, as it’s just never been a Hockey city despite having an AHL team named the Houston Aeros playing there.
There’s a possibility for them to have an expansion team, be it a brand-new franchise or an eventual rebrand of the Coyotes, but it could take a lot of hard work to build up a fan base. It won’t be as easy as it was for Las Vegas or Seattle.
Quebec City
There’s a lot going for Quebec on the fan base. Not only is Quebec the second largest city in the Provence, but it also has a diehard hockey fan base. Quebec did have a franchise and formed a great rivalry between themselves and the Montreal Canadians (Montreal being the biggest city in the Provence).
Unfortunately, they lost their franchise in the early 90s to what eventually turned out to be the team relocating to Denver to form the Colorado Avalanche.
The city of Quebec is so prepared for the NHL, that they even have the arena built in preparation for an NHL franchise returning to their city. It’s a team we would like to see back in the league, especially if it meant adding another Canadian team. Canadians love their hockey.
Hamilton
Just like Quebec, the Canadian city of Hamilton has a strong NHL following. The city has tried for a long time to get an NHL franchise but has always been outbid. Still, we can never say never. Hamilton already has an OHL team named the Bulldogs and a Canadian football team named the Tiger-Cats.
Sport is popular here and the NHL is the most popular of all, hence the reason we would like to see Hamilton form an NHL team, another Canadian rivalry is never a bad thing.
All said and done, it seems the fan base in Hamilton wants a team more than the league, and it’s most likely a relocation is their best chance of getting a team.
Portland
Portland is the second biggest city in the Pacific Northwest behind Seattle, and currently only has an MLS team and an NBA team, but does have a Western hockey league team named the Winterhawks.
Portland is starting to grow as a sporting hub, having had rumours of an MLB team, the city would thrive on an NHL fanbase, in our opinion. Hockey is popular in that part of the world, and they would instantly form a rivalry with the recently added Seattle Kraken and Canadians Vancouver Canucks.
The only downfall right now for Portland is the fact the city officials haven’t shown any interest in bringing an NHL team to Portland, but never say never.
