The NHL made a leadership change at Tuesday’s Board of Governors meeting, handing the chair role to Capitals owner Ted Leonsis after Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs stepped down following a 19-year run.
Leonsis was a unanimous choice in the vote, and Flames owner Murray Edwards will move into the vice-chair position. Both bring long tenures to the job: Leonsis bought the Capitals in 1999, while Edwards has held a stake in the Flames since 1994.
Expansion was another major topic, but Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tried to tamp down the buzz around a possible Texas team. The Texas-based Friedkin group is still expected to land the winning bid eventually, though it has not yet settled on a location. The current term sheet gives that process six months, but it could be extended, and the league hopes the preferred site will be known by the end of the calendar year.
Bettman also made clear that not every owner is pushing expansion with the same enthusiasm. “I think there are probably some owners who think expansion is the greatest thing ever, and there are some who say ‘why do we need to expand?” he said, without saying how many owners fall into either group.
On the business side, the league’s revenue picture continues to climb. Last season’s final total landed around $7.5 billion in mixed USD and CAD, though the official figure still may be a few months away. Bettman said the projection for the coming season is about $8.1 billion in mixed currency, a jump that would just about cover the expected $9.5MM increase to the Upper Limit for the 2027-28 season.
In Other News...
Kevin Bahl May Be Carrying More Of Calgarys Blue Line Than Ever
Kevin Bahl arrives in camp with a clear assignment in mind, and it goes well beyond simply settling into the Calgary Flames blue line. With Simon Nemec in the fold after the trade from the New Jersey Devils, Bahl is being lined up as the steady, defense-first presence beside a younger partner whose game leans more naturally toward pushing the puck and joining the attack. Head coach Ryan Huska has already framed Bahl as the kind of blueliner who can balance out that style and help give the Flames a more functional look in tough minutes.
The bigger picture for Calgary is how much responsibility Bahl could absorb if this pairing holds. The Flames are counting on him to take on heavy defensive work against opposing top lines, and his role should stretch into special teams as well as the season unfolds. For a team trying to sort out its back end, Bahl may end up being one of the players who quietly carries the most weight in the structure, even if the spotlight naturally follows the more dynamic name next to him. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Fans Finally Get A First Look At Conroys Biggest Additions
The long wait for a first real look at Calgarys offseason overhaul ends Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, when the Flames dress Simon Nemec, Jake Middleton and Maxim Tsyplakov for a preseason game against the Vancouver Canucks. All three arrived in separate summer moves, with Nemec and Tsyplakov coming over from the New Jersey Devils in a deal built around draft picks and a prospect, and Middleton landing from the Minnesota Wild, giving fans their first chance to see how the new pieces fit into the roster.
The early alignment offers an immediate hint at how the Flames view the additions. Nemec is slated for the top defensive pairing, Middleton is expected to settle into a second-pair role, and Tsyplakov should get a look on the fourth line, with both Nemec and Tsyplakov also drawing second-unit power-play duty. Preseason lineups are never final, but this one should give Calgary a better sense of just how quickly the new arrivals can settle into the spots the team has mapped out for them. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Preseason Lineup Just Sent A Clear Message To Young Players
Calgarys first preseason game offered a pretty clear hint about where the roster stands heading into the fall. In a 4-2 loss to Seattle, the Flames iced a group with few established NHL regulars, a sign that the club is still sorting through its younger options and trying to see which players can handle bigger responsibilities before the games start to matter.
Ahead of the next matchup with Vancouver, a projected opening-night lineup has started to come into focus, and it includes names like Connor Zary and Samuel Honzek in prominent spots. The Flames have not officially locked anything in yet, but the expectation is that what shows up against the Canucks will look a lot closer to the group that opens the season, giving the younger players one more chance to show they belong in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]