Expansion talk is just idle chatter

Expansion chatter is on the docket for the NHL’s board of governors meeting. Just don’t expect much more than that.

“There won’t be any vote,” commissioner Gary Bettman said last month during Hockey Hall of Fame weekend. “All I’ll do is continue to report on the levels of interest that are being expressed.”

There have been reports aplenty about the NHL going to Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City and adding a second team in Toronto. At every turn, Bettman has downplayed the speculation.

What’s true is that the climate is ripe to expand, something the league hasn’t done since 2000 when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild became the 29th and 30th teams. But having growing revenues isn’t the only qualification.

Bettman said there’s a checklist of factors that includes labour peace (check), Canadian and U.S. TV contracts (check) and a focus on expanding. Right now the league is worried about other issues, such as sealing the deal on the World Cup of Hockey.

“There are lots of other things we’re doing to continue to grow the game,” Bettman said.

“There’s no effort crying out for immediate expansion.”

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly recently toured the construction site of a 20,000-seat arena on the Las Vegas Strip that’s set to open in 2016, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

He and Bettman have been careful not to bring up individual markets so as not to get fans’ hopes up, when asked Daly called Las Vegas a “unique” market.

Relocation isn’t imminent either, despite small crowds at Florida Panthers games garnering some negative attention.

Vincent Viola bought the team more than a year ago, and Bettman said the team had good ownership.

The status of next year’s salary cap is always a topic at the board of governors meeting as owners get a very early estimate of what the 2014-15 upper limit will be.

Despite the Rogers Canadian TV deal, the cap is not expected to rise too much beyond $70 million US.

“The cap has always gone up for the most part, it’s just a matter of degree,” Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said recently. “We’re certainly expecting the cap to go up. The magnitude of that will be dependent on a number of factors. You have to plan for that.”