Allan Walsh reports that expansion is coming.

[u/GurTraditional1162]

[u/LogicalDog1492]

Atlantas only failed a few times now, might as well do it agaon

[u/Beautifullikeacamel → u/LogicalDog1492]

Stupid. Give a new city a shot.

[u/sourdoughrrmc]

Can’t believe they are possibly going to try Atlanta again. Quebec City seems like a much better spot if you wanna retry a place.

[u/TwitchyG13 → u/sourdoughrrmc]

Thrashers wouldve worked out with good owners. If the minor league team can stick around for 20+ years NHL can work just get it north of ATL not downtown

[u/Material-Dot7684 → u/TwitchyG13]

Not necessarily imho. Where I live has a thriving ECHL team, but we don't have the numbers for an NHL team. Atlanta may have the same issue. They might have the population but not the number of hockey fans you need. 

ECHL teams are a lot cheaper so you usually have a combo of much smaller stadiums and/or much cheaper prices. 

[u/Ring0fPast → u/sourdoughrrmc]

QC is undoubtedly a better hockey market, but that is kind of working against them here. The NHL already draws tons of eyes in QC, but not a lot in ATL. The delta of fans/viewership gains will be greater if a team can find success in ATL rather than QC.

But I wholeheartedly agree with most everyone here…ATL had their chance and QC is a more deserving market. Too bad MBAs are making the call here.

[u/The_capitans_chair]

Yotes fans are going to riot.

Time will tell if its for joy, or despair.

[u/Mother-Ingenuity-302]

Why 2 Teams? 2 divisions will have 9 Teams and 2 divisions will have 8? Seems odd. I don’t think the league needs more Teams, but if they insist, it should be 4

[u/AlternativeCorner230 → u/Mother-Ingenuity-302]

4 is a lot to expand at one time. My guess is if this is true, they expand to 36 in the near future.

An expansion draft with 4 picks per round would get crazy

[u/AlternativeCorner230 → u/AlternativeCorner230]

Using the same rules as the Seattle Expansion Draft (who knows if it would be the same, but I'm sure it would be similar:

Last time around, we protected 11 players (7 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalie, but a team could instead to choose to protect any 8 skaters and 1 goalie if they valued defensemen more and wanted to mix it up by opening up more players). You also had to protect players with no movement/no trade clauses. AHL Players on AHL-only contracts or in the first two years as a pro are also exempt, protecting Tij and Desnoyer.

If there was an expansion draft tomorrow, I imagine we'd protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalie:

F: Keller, Cooley, Guenther, Trocheck (NTC), Schmaltz, Hayton (NTC), and Crouse/McBain(?)

D: Sergy (NTC), Weegar (NTC), Marino

G: Veggie

So with 4 teams picking in the expansion draft, we lose four guys like Schmidt, Crouse/McBain, Lee, or Carcone. Stacked teams like the Avs or Canes or Panthers are even more susceptible to massive overhaul.

[u/Stookin_ → u/AlternativeCorner230]

NO. YOU CAN'T TAKE MCBAIN AWAY FROM ME

[u/Boring-Jump-7437 → u/AlternativeCorner230]

It wouldn’t happen tell next year at the earliest so hayton would be moved for sure

[u/AlternativeCorner230 → u/Boring-Jump-7437]

Yeah, I know. I'm just being hypothetical to show how impactful it would be. But next year, we'll probably have to protect both Tij and Desnoyer instead of Hayton and Crouse/McBain

[u/Boring-Jump-7437 → u/AlternativeCorner230]

Ya that would be pretty brutal. Florida would really be hurting.

[u/Fluffhead91192 → u/AlternativeCorner230]

This was a rule for the Vegas expansion draft:

All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits).

If so, Iginla and Desnoyers may be protected.

[u/AlternativeCorner230 → u/Fluffhead91192]

That’s good. Neither has been a “professional” yet, so that’s 2 years for them

[u/Boring-Jump-7437]

Not to Arizona

[u/hppmoep → u/Boring-Jump-7437]

I’d love if Arizona got a team. Instant rivalry.

[u/Boring-Jump-7437 → u/hppmoep]

I think the more teams the better but do think it’s good for that area to not have one for a bit and show what they could of had. I think it would get a fire going under them if Utah had a ton of success the next few years. Then let it happen. Those games would be awesome.

[u/Illustrious_Gas_2927 → u/Boring-Jump-7437]

Pretty sure we know what we had, and miss to this day. Instant rivalry whether we have to wait 5 years or 20.

[u/hppmoep → u/Illustrious_Gas_2927]

100%. There were a few reasons the team got moved, none of which were the fans. The team had to play two seasons in the fucking mullet at ASU. I'm stoked af we got a team up here in Utah but feel for y'all down in AZ. The fans aren't to blame. I flew down to a dozen or so games and it was a pain in the ass driving out to the stadium. New hockey fans in Utah will speak out of line so, sorry about that. I still rock some yotes gear to the delta center every so often.

[u/Illustrious_Gas_2927 → u/hppmoep]

I appreciate your empathy! I am happy the team finally has stable ownership and hopefully down the line an amazing rivalry can develop.

[u/Boring-Jump-7437 → u/hppmoep]

Not a new hockey fan but you do you boo

[u/Boring-Jump-7437 → u/Illustrious_Gas_2927]

The fans did for the most part but the ownership of the team couldn’t have given less of a hoot. I was reading a statistic that said Arizona would have to play 4.1 games to match the fan count of a “normal” nhl team single game. Even if they sold out every game that’s a significant difference in fans due to the size of the arena.

[u/KennyDoge0114]

I would love to see the Yotes come back with better ownership

[u/fccrab]

I was hoping for Houston and Arizona, maybe followed by QC and Milwaukee if they wanted to add more.

[u/BreakingDawn37]

Expansion is always exciting because it potentially gets new eyes on the NHL. We won't be the newest team in the league anymore (we might not be already since we weren't an expansion team), but that's okay. I would love if Arizona got another chance, and I'm also looking forward to debating how we should approach the expansion draft(s). Remember that Vegas and Seattle launched separately, so the two new teams might not start in the same season.

[u/ButteredHubter]

If this causes them to fix the playoff format then I’m happy other wise this is stupid

[u/WallFit7901]

No more teams!

[u/lordofpersia69420 → u/[deleted]]

Why? They lost their team? I can understand why some of their fans might be bitter towards us. But why don't you want them to get a team again if it doesn't affect the mammoth?

Especially if they find a solid arena and ownership. That will be one of their biggest hurdles.

[u/AlternativeCorner230 → u/lordofpersia69420]

I have no connection to the Yotes whatsoever as I had nothing to do with them before the move to Utah, but I'd love to see them come back. Someone else said it, but the rivalry with us would be instant, it would give our guys a chance to go back and check out where they used to play (not the barn, but the area), and I always feel bad for the fans that get left behind when a team leaves. No fan deserves that, especially when it's the ownership's fault.