NHL Expansion Discussed at Gary Bettman's State of the Union Address

NHL Expansion Will be Voted on at Board of Governors Meeting on June 22nd, says Gary Bettman at his annual State of the Union Address Ahead of Stanley Cup Final

NHL Expansion was among the topics covered at Gary Bettman’s annual State of the Union Address, traditionally given prior to the Stanley Cup Final.

Both Las Vegas and Quebec City have laid in wait for some time with the grueling NHL expansion process.

Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the Board of Governors will vote on June 22nd in Las Vegas, with the NHL Awards scheduled to take place later that evening. Some have already speculated for months that an announcement in Las Vegas at the annual NHL Awards show may be part of the NHL’s plans from the beginning.

“I am not going to handicap what’s going to happen, but when the Board meets in Las Vegas on June 22, I am fairly certain that we will know more than we do today,” said Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Only four potential outcomes exist; 1) both Las Vegas and Quebec City are awarded a franchise; 2) only one city is awarded a franchise; 3) the NHL expansion process is delayed even longer; 4) NHL opts against expansion.

As other professional hockey leagues (KHL, SHL, SM-Liiga, NLA, etc.) continue to bridge the gap talent wise, it’s clearly apparent that our game continues to grow globally. As the talent pool deepens, the NHL must continue to find ways to expand.

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The NHL could easily add both Las Vegas and Quebec city in time for the 2016-17 season (original target date for NHL expansion). A major factor to consider is the Conference imbalance in this scenario. If the NHL feels the 14:16 ratio has worked without issue, there’s nothing to stop 15:17 (west:east).

“We have said that’s the earliest it will happen,” Daly said. “It could be one of the decisions made is expansion is going to happen, but it’s deferred a year. There’s nothing about our current timing precludes 17-18.”

Bill Daly once again brought up the notion that NHL expansion could be delayed a year – some fans in Las Vegas (who have already put down money) have expressed their vocal displeasure on that notion.

via NHL.com,

If the vote is to expand, Daly said the League and the NHL Players’ Association have the expansion draft rules “nailed down to the extent they need to be.”

Following the press conference, Daly said first- and second-year professionals would be exempt from the expansion draft. He would not define what constitutes one year of professional hockey.

“There is a specific procedure and definition with respect to how you qualify professional players,” Daly said. “But I’m not in a position to say more than that.”

Daly said players with no-trade clauses would be eligible to be left exposed for a potential expansion draft.

“No-trade carries no significance with respect to the expansion draft at all,” Daly said.

The only details we don’t know about the NHL expansion draft now are the specifics as to what constitutes length of playing time to figure out who is/isn’t exempt.

Generally speaking, the rule will be two full years of pro playing service (NHL/AHL) or less are automatically exempt from the NHL expansion draft.

A change from past years, teams were forced to use a save on players carrying a no-trade clause. Given the way clauses are handed out nowadays, the NHL has it right by allowing to leave those players exposed.

via NHL.com,

Daly said teams will not have to expose an agreed upon minimum amount of salary for the expansion draft, which is a change from what was discussed and made public at the NHL General Managers meetings in March.

“I think it was the result of a couple things, but primarily I alluded to the fact that we’ve looked at everybody’s roster and kind of see where they fit and see what kind of protection they would have to have and clubs are in different places with respect to that,” Daly said. “I think at the end of the day, from a competitive standpoint, we didn’t think it made a huge difference.”