The NHL’s expansion plans could eventually create a strange little headache in Colorado.
If the league follows through on adding teams over the next decade, Quebec City is one of the places being discussed as a possible landing spot. And if hockey does come back there, the old Nordiques name would almost certainly come back into the conversation too.
That’s where the Avalanche enter the picture. Colorado, of course, was born from the old Quebec Nordiques when the franchise moved before the 1995-96 season. Since then, the Avalanche have occasionally used Nordiques regalia, but the name itself belongs to the NHL, not the club in Denver.
According to US Patent 2808917, the league owns the trademark “Quebec Nordiques.” That means a new team in Quebec wouldn’t need Colorado’s permission to revive the brand. The NHL could simply license the name and logo to the new ownership group, potentially for a token amount like $100, and the franchise could again be called the Nordiques.
That’s not some far-fetched legal wrinkle, either. It’s basically the same arrangement that played out when the Winnipeg Jets name returned after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg in 2011.
There’s also a related quirk involving the Arizona Coyotes. The reason the Utah club became the Utah Mammoth instead of the Utah Coyotes was because the Coyotes are still technically an NHL franchise. The league deactivated that team for five years while the owners tried to sort things out, which is why the NHL is still listed as having 33 teams.
If the Coyotes never return, the league will likely buy the trademark later. And down the road, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Utah Mammoth turn back into the Coyotes.
For now, though, the bigger issue is this: if Quebec ever gets another NHL team, the league may have to navigate the awkward overlap between a revived Nordiques identity and the franchise that once left it behind for Colorado.
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Colorado moved to bring him in on June 1, 2026, and the next step should give the club a clearer read on how far he can go. Novosyolov is expected to open the 2026-27 season with the Avalanches ECHL affiliate in New Mexico, where the adjustment to North American pro hockey will be part of the test. Goaltenders can take a while to sort themselves out, but if he keeps trending the way he has, this could be the start of a longer conversation. [Read more 🡒]