The commissioner of the National Hockey League, Gary Bettman has done nothing but hurt the sport in recent years, with the on-ice product getting worse and worse by the season and the New jersey deal with Fanatics, it just seems like he doesn't care about growing the game like he says.
Now, according to Daily Faceoff ESPN is working on a partnership deal with the NBA, NFL and MLB that would allow them to own equity in the company; take a look.
As you'll notice, the above list includes 3 of the 4 major sports leagues leaving out the NHL. While the NBA, NFL and MLB continue to grow, it's becoming more clear that the NHL is soon going to be left behind, if it hasn't been already.
Only when Gary Bettman isn't in charge will things change, the longer he stays in charge, the more he continues to hurt the game as a whole. This is long past unacceptable, hopefully this will be the final straw.