Latest Arizona Report Reignites Talk Of NHL Expansion

The battle to land a new NHL team continued this week, and Arizona resurfaced.

As per reporter Craig Morgan, an Arizona politician is putting together a committee whose goal is to bring an NHL franchise back to the American state.

Tom Galvin, the new chair of the Maricopa County board of supervisors, is bringing together businesspeople and politicians for this project. Bettman told Morgan he discussed the possibility with Galvin before Christmas.

That news must be encouraging to Arizona hockey fans, but don’t get excited just yet. The NHL wants to reestablish itself as an entertainment presence in the Phoenix area, but they won’t hand a team to Galvin (or anyone else in Arizona) just because both sides are interested in a deal happening. All the elements of the expansion process have to be addressed, and some elements are more crucial than others.

Most notably, if a group wants an NHL expansion team, the league needs iron-clad proof that a new arena will be built and ready. If they don’t have it, they won’t move ahead and be left holding the bag if a city’s arena plans fall through. Basically, we’re talking shovels-in-the-ground evidence a new rink deal is in place for the NHL to jump back into the water with Arizona as an active team.

Indeed, absent that proof, the NHL will sit back quietly, say all the right things about Arizona’s connection to hockey, and take a pass on Galvin’s group or any Arizona group for an expansion franchise while the league gives teams to Houston and Atlanta instead.

In any case, we’ve argued for some time now that expansion is on its way to the NHL again. This latest news is another brick in the road to two more cities getting an expansion team. You may not have an appetite for more teams, but many people do, and it can be great for business.

Indeed, Bettman is on record to The Hockey News publisher W. Graeme Roustan as stating that a franchise price tag could be around the $1.75-to-$2.5-billion area. And Bettman is not throwing that valuation out there to prospective owners unless he’s confident that he can require all aspects of the deal be finalized before the NHL completely commits to someone’s city.

Related: Q&A: NHLPA Exec Marty Walsh On NHL Expansion, CBA Plans And More, Part 1

The competition for an expansion team is more than healthy enough for the NHL to be picky and choosy with who they give the keys. There will be no room for error that leads to the league regretting it didn’t do enough to fully vet teams.

Whether it’s an expansion group in Arizona, Atlanta or Houston, the NHL’s next expansion targets can and will politic and politely pressure the league to move forth with a new team or two. But league brass can bide their time a while longer before cashing in on expansion.

Ultimately, and simply put, there’s too much cash to be made for this expansion money train to move off the tracks. And while actual expansion may be three or four or five years away, everything the NHL is doing points in one direction – directly toward a 33rd and 34th city joining the fun. Expansion is going to bring jobs to the NHL Players Association, and it’s going to bring a massive windfall to team owners. Everybody wins. The exact ETA for new teams isn’t clear, but sooner rather than later, we fully expect the league to grow one more time.

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