- Bill Daly says the NHL has ongoing talks with groups in Phoenix and Atlanta about a 34th franchise
- The 33rd team, headed to Houston or Austin, could be announced by the end of this calendar year
- Read below for what Daly said when the talent dilution argument came up
The NHL is not planning to stop at 33 teams.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly sat down with Chris Johnston of The Athletic at the league’s European media tour in Munich and was asked where expansion goes once Texas is done. He named two markets already in the mix for a 34th franchise.
“So we will have one down and potentially one to go. We have ongoing discussions both with people in the Phoenix marketplace, but also Atlanta, and then we’ll see what comes of those discussions.”
The 33rd team comes first. Dan Friedkin’s group has agreed to pay the $2 billion expansion fee, and Daly expects to put something in front of the Board of Governors before the calendar turns, with Houston or Austin playing as soon as 2029-30. Our look at that December timeline ran Friday.
Our post on the interview paired Daly with the two skylines he is picking between, Austin and Houston:
Team 34 does not have to arrive on the same schedule. Daly said he sees no need for both clubs to enter the league in the same season. Vegas and Seattle came in four years apart and nobody minded.
The loudest argument against all of this is talent. Two more rosters means roughly 46 additional NHL jobs, and half the league already spends every summer hunting for a second-line center. Johnston put that to Daly directly.
“The source and supply of players is not a concern. The dilution of talent as an argument against expansion I don’t think holds any water today. Does it support four-team expansion? That would be a question for me. Certainly, a two-team expansion doesn’t raise any concerns.”
Both cities on the short list have lost a team before. Atlanta watched the Flames leave for Calgary in 1980, then watched the Thrashers leave for Winnipeg in 2011.
Phoenix had the Coyotes from 1996 until April 2024, when Ryan Smith’s group bought the hockey operations and moved them to Salt Lake City. Daly told Craig Morgan last week that Arizona is still a market the league likes.
Get to 34 and the NHL becomes the largest league in North American pro sports. The NFL sits at 32, the NBA and MLB at 30 apiece.
Daly meets with the Texas group again in September. Phoenix and Atlanta are lined up behind that one.
