Quoting: Devil1122
These are the top 10 cities/areas with the best chances to get an NHL team in my opinion (no order)
Quebec City
Hartford
Halifax
Atlanta
Greater Toronto Area
Houston
Saskatchewan
Kansas City
Portland
Milwaukee
I cannot for the life of me see the NHL try the Atlanta experiment for a third time. The Flames and Thrashers both failed in that market. Sometimes it doesn't work out. I'd cap them and every non-GTA Canadian market to an AHL team at max.
The Canadian dollar is never strong enough to justify putting more markets in Canada, especially as the population sizes aren't very large to begin with. These small markets already have a dedication to their CHL teams that there'd honestly be considerable competition with them for advertising rights and scheduling that I couldn't see anything more than NHL exhibition games being played in such cities.
I think Hartford and Kansas City are 50-50 shots honestly. They probably mix in well with places earlier mentioned like Salt Lake City and Wisconsin as "secondary" markets the NHL would explore after having filled the major population centers.
The odds are much more in favour for the GTA, Houston, Portland, and Milwaukee. If we assume that Arizona relocates to Houston, then there's only going to be room for one more of Hartford, Kansas, SLC, and Wisconsin in order for the league to maintain a league divisible by four or six (for divisions). In all likelihood, Hartford wins out to maintain an East-West balance and Nashville ends up a part of the Eastern Conference.