It appears that the National Hockey League (NHL) is a step closer to having an expansion team in Seattle.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the league’s board of governors’ executive committee recommended moving forward with Seattle’s application to become the league’s 32nd team.
Bettman explained that the idea is to have the board vote on approving the league’s 32nd team in December and is positive that Seattle’s application will be approved.
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This is great news for those who have been working so hard toward getting an NHL team in Seattle. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Bettman both agree that it would be ideal if the team was ready to compete in the 2020-21 season. That scenario seems realistic as long as KeyArena’s renovations remain on schedule. Durkan said that she felt confident that they were going to be able to proceed with their plans with help from the NHL and the new franchise should be able to hit the ice in 2020.
The board will convene next on December 3rd and 4th and Bettman is expecting a full report on the expansion plans into Seattle. He hopes that a vote will take place at that time. For the application to be approved, 24 of the 32 board members need to be in favour of it. Bettman said that it is unlikely that the board would vote against Seattle’s bid as the league would take in a $650 million expansion fee and Seattle would become a rival to the nearby Vancouver Canucks. A team in Seattle would also give the Western Conference 16 teams which would match the number of teams in the Eastern Conference.
Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini seems to like the idea of a team in Seattle and believes that it is just a matter of time before it comes through.
However, Seattle Hockey Partners President Tod Leiweke and majority owner David Bonderman were careful to not take the outcome for granted. Leiweke said that having a team in Seattle has been coming for a long time but they still need to be patient and wait for the final outcome.
Bonderman stated that his group along with the Mayor have worked hard to demonstrate to the NHL that the city is ready for a NHL team. Everything finally seems to be in place and should the vote go in favour of a Seattle NHL team, the exciting part of picking a team will commence.
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