Expansion is inching closer around the NHL, and the league’s next move could reshape the map in a hurry. Bill Daly spoke with the media a few days ago, and the talk around a 33rd team has grown loud enough that it now feels nearly certain. From there, the next logical step would be a 34th franchise sometime within the next decade so the league can even out its numbers.
One question hanging over all of it is the schedule. The NHL is only now getting to a 32-team format with 84 games, so another round of expansion would force the league to deal with that structure all over again.
Daly said during the NHL European Press tour that the league is “moving ahead with Texas”, with Houston and Austin looking like the most likely metro areas to land a team. The league has already shown with Las Vegas and Seattle that an expansion club can be built into something competitive right away through the expansion draft. Vegas has been the stronger success story by far, while the Kraken have settled into the mushy middle.
How the next team performs would depend heavily on the talent pool available when the expansion process arrives. The path could look a lot more like the Knights, or a lot more like Seattle.
On the player-ranking front, the NHL media released its annual Top 20 Centers list yesterday, and Dylan Larkin came in at no. 20.
That’s a drop from no. 15 last year, and it won’t help his trade value at the moment. The ranking likely reflects Larkin’s inability to score during 5on5 play last season.
The Red Wings had three players show up on the NHL’s top 20 lists this year. Mo Seider was the highest-ranked of the group, landing at no. 9 among defensemen. Lucas Raymond and Larkin were both placed at no. 20 of 20 on their respective lists.
Swedish forward Eddie Genborg’s summer hasn’t exactly gone to plan as he would’ve liked.
Some Red Wings fans may remember Daniel Sprong, who spent one season in Detroit after arriving from the Seattle Kraken. His scoring ability was never the issue, but as the clip below shows, there were other parts of his game that made it clear he wasn’t going to be back for a second year with the Red Wings.
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Red Wings Search Puts Ilitch At Center Of A Huge Decision
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For now, assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff is keeping the daily business moving, but the interim setup has its limits and leaves a lot of the bigger calls on hold. It also comes against a backdrop of other recent NHL front-office searches that moved more quickly, which only adds to the sense that this one has become a significant decision for Chris Ilitch and the organization as the calendar keeps inching toward camp. [Read more 🡒]