NHL expansion: Jeff Marek points to two clear frontrunners

On The Sheet, Marek said Atlanta and Houston are his «destinations A» and «destinations B.»

That's not an announcement, but it's the kind of insider nudge fans don't ignore in late March.

Houston feels like the easy sell. It's a huge market, it has long been tied to expansion chatter, and league interest there has been reported more than once over the last year.

Atlanta is where this gets loud.

The NHL has already tried Atlanta twice.

The Atlanta Flames arrived in 1972 and moved to Calgary in 1980.

The Atlanta Thrashers began in 1999 and relocated to Winnipeg in 2011.

That history won't sit well with a big chunk of the fan base. For a lot of people, the first reaction won't be excitement. It'll be, Why is the league going back again?

Some fans will see Atlanta as unfinished business. A lot more will see two strikes already on the board.

That's the real tension around Marek's hint. Expansion isn't just about TV footprints and ownership money.

Fans want proof a market can hold up over time, especially after two franchises already left town.

And this is where Bettman would take the heat.

The commissioner has defended non-traditional markets for years, but bringing the league back to Atlanta would reopen every old argument in one shot.

There's also the optics.

The NHL still has cities and fan bases wondering about Quebec City, while Atlanta would be getting a third crack after the Flames and Thrashers both packed up.

None of that means Atlanta can't work one day. It means the burden of proof would be massive from the jump.

Marek's comment matters because insiders usually don't float the same two cities by accident. Still, until the league moves past talk and into action, fans are left with the same question: why should Atlanta be trusted with another team?

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