OT: Las Vegas gets NHL franchise in 2017

Submitted by goblueram on

Looks like it is now official, there will be an NHL team in Las Vegas for the 2017-18 season.  It has been a while (2000) since new expansion teams have been added, so it's interesting to read up on the logistics.  Essentially, the new team gets an expansion draft to pick a player from other teams, but the established teams can protect certain players.  Then they will also have picks in the normal draft. 

The new team will join the pacific division (8th team), meaning the West now has 15 and the East has 16 teams.

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-expands-to-las-vegas/c-281010682?tid=28101…

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WolvinLA2

June 22nd, 2016 at 6:42 PM ^

Look, Vegas is not for everyone but it's a beautiful city in most parts of it (once you get off the strip which is only tourists anyway). It's also a big town, 2.5 million people or so, and growing rapidly. My guess is that lots of big hockey fans will plan their Vegas trips around the schedule to see their teams, and then the locals will have a pro team to rally behind. I'm optimistic it will work.

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truferblue22

June 23rd, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^

You think the NHL leaders are smart?!?!?!? The NFL may have their heads up their asses on social issues...but when it comes to marketing of the league and running things in an intelligent way, no one is in the same atmosphere as the NHL. Bettman is an absolute joke and unfortunately, all of the NHLs problems are self inflicted -- and there are many.

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Clarence Beeks

June 22nd, 2016 at 8:25 PM ^

Very smart move again by the NHL. People like to shit on the Coyotes, but that move did exactly what it was supposed to do: grow the footprint of the game in the US. No question it did that, attendance aside, considering that the upcoming #1 overall draft pick hails from...wait for it...Scottsdale, AZ and fell in love watching hockey by watching the Coyotes (born two years after the relocated from Winnipeg). That's the strategy. Yes, it's great if the seats are full and the team is successful, but it takes a generation to grow and blossom the seeds of a natural fanbase. Tampa Bay is another perfect example of that. The Panthers not so much, but that has as much to do with the geography and demographics of that market (which is not one cohesive market, but looks like it from the outside - every pro team struggles there, even the Dolphins and they are the most established).



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NittanyFan

June 22nd, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^

Despite the attendance woes, hockey in the desert has grown the sport of Ice Hockey.  Not all NHL franchises need to be in the snow belt.

That said, you cannot have TOO many markets like that.  And those markets that are like that: it seems strategic to spread them out geographically.  What does Las Vegas add to either (1) the NHL or (2) the sport of Ice Hockey as a whole, that Phoenix does not already have covered?

I don't really have an answer there.

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