Lenny7
Joined: Jan. 2017
Posts: 13,291
Likes: 11,051
I feel like there's a number of things that would hold back relocation:
-Bettman: I don't think he'd ever admit to being wrong about this city. They've been through a ton, and he still hasn't backed down or considered moving the franchise.
-Teams in the same Provinces/States as proposed relocation sites: Remember when Hamilton was a potential relocation/expansion site? MLSE shut that $hit down hard! I can't imagine Montreal, Dallas, or any team that has their own local market wrapped up right now would be super happy about opening their doors to another team (Though, IMO, it'd be a smart move).
-East/West imbalance if they go to Quebec (Again, this can be fixed pretty easily, but doesn't seem like a happy time for whatever team gets shifted out).
-Seattle expansion: I can't imagine the NHL wants to take any focus off of a new team coming into the league, meaning that this would only happen in 3 years or so, at which time we'll likely have seen at least 1 new ownership group in Arizona.
This isn't me saying that Arizona should relocate, because I'd love for the Nordiques to be a thing again (Or for Houston to have a team...buncha cheaters...), I just think there's wayyyy too many obstacles in the way for this to happen anytime soon, no matter how scum-bagey that organization has become.