Which cities are most likely to get an NHL team? (either by expansion or a current team relocating)

My first thoughts are:
Quebec City--Bring back the Nordiques!
Houston--Can Texas support 2 NHL teams?
Toronto--There are so many hockey fans in the toronto area that if it's cheaper than the leafs, they'll survive for sure I think.

I've also heard:
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Halifax
Hamilton
Hartford
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Milwaukee
Portland
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Saskatoon

Any ideas on which of these are most likely to get a franchise after Seattle???

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Thoughts on which city could get an NHL team after Seattle? Please don't quote this post!

Pls no Quebec... and I write this from my home in Quebec City

We're way too poor to fill our arena every game. Our former building, which was smaller than the current one, wasn't even full in the years before they left even tho the team was rising and even tho ticket costs were lower. Not happening sorry. Bettman is 100% right not to come to Quebec

In terms of expansion, I think they’re done. The only thing I could see is if Arizona completely goes off the rails, it would make sense for them to move to Houston. But we’re still a long, long way away from that being a possibility.

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Thoughts on which city could get an NHL team after Seattle? Please don't quote this post!

Houston
TX has no state income tax.

wow didn't know that. I had "misheard" I guess that some people wanted them back... thanks.

Quebec City deserves a team

hmm. good point.

Not too poor, just too small of a market. Québec City is one of the cities where the average income is the highest, with a relatively low cost of living.

This ain't it

I could see a team in Wisconsin because of the weather, the sportslife, and the rivalry possible with chicago and st. louis. or i could see a team in south carolina just to give the hurricanes a rival close to home.

Quebecers as a people are poorer than Ontarians for instance (high taxes) that's what I meant.

Taxes would need to be relatively drastically lowered or the city would need to have maybe 150K more people.

honestly hope they dont expand more but I think Houston is very possible

Wisconsin is a nice thought. how are the hurricanes doing? they would have to be doing amazing to be Able to support 2 teams near there....

hurricanes are north carolina. no team in south tho

Houston seems to be a popular thought. I think 36 is the biggest I'd go (thinking 20 years from now). I think the nhl might want to enlarge the playoffs to get more $$$ so with a 36 team league you could have a 20-24 team playoff easier...also alot more revenue for players providing more jobs. as long as teams can support a team. I just don't know if there are enough markets to support teams.

If you're comparing net income, then yes but that's apples and oranges. The average Quebecer earns around 6k less than the average Ontarian, but here we have a lower cost of living. The matter is that Québec city is more than the average city. Money is not the problem, it's the population but it could change in the near future as the north and south suburbs of Québec quickly growing

are you familiar with SC? what is the interest toward the NHL there?

The problem is the lack of business life in Quebec... Montreal is way too near. That's why Winnipeg's such an economic powerhouse, TOR and EDM/CGY are HOURS of driving away. If you guys in MTL could push the city towards the west by about 150 km then maybe hahaha

yeah like PIT fans wish we could pick up the entire city of PHILLY and dump them on a random island somewhere....maybe Antartica??? who owns Antartica lol?

Don’t have enough big corporate sponsors in QBC.

None by expansion. I think 32 teams is quite a lot for a sport like hockey. Unless the entry path for the sports gets more accessible, 32 teams will be the maximum.

By relocation - Quebec City and Houston are definitely on the list. Quebec has a fairly new, 18000 seater stadium designed for the sport. Houston has the population and could support a team as well, the Toyota Center can be fit for hockey and can seat 17800.

Another Toronto team is a long shot. A couple of reasons are 1) There isn't an NHL ready arena in the GTA outside of the Scotiabank Arena, and there aren't any plans for developing one, and 2) The Maple Leafs have the market on lock down and will fight tooth and nail to deny a competitor. If the Leafs are successful within the next decade, a second Toronto team will all but vanish, since I believe the project will rely on the frustrations of Leafs fans.

Outside of Quebec City I doubt another area could support an NHL franchise. Halifax, Saskatoon and Victoria don't have the population base to handle +15,000 spectators a game. Hamilton does but it's in the Toronto/Buffalo radius and the NHL has already rejected a couple of attempts there.

Don't really know too much about the States - I think Portland and Milwaukee would be interesting options - Portland already has a WHL team and I think Wisconsin is big on hockey; they've got an AHL as well. San Francisco might be a decent place to set up shop but I'm not sure the Sharks would be too keen on that, but they may not have the saying power like the Leafs to in Toronto.

Taxes are usefull to pay for things. Like a big (empty) arena for example...

Do you think an NHL team would drive more interest? I don't think any minor team could support a 18000 seater arena honestly; but an NHL team would attract casual interest.