NHL's next expansion move reportedly already down to two markets
Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NHL's expansion talk feels less like a wide-open search now and more like a short list, with Atlanta and Houston sitting at the front.
That's the big takeaway from David Pagnotta's latest comments on The Sheet.
He made it clear the league already knows where its strongest options are and doesn't need to launch some broad formal process to find them.
Pagnotta pointed right at Atlanta and Houston as the two markets the league keeps circling back to.
That matters, because it suggests the NHL is past the daydream stage and is now watching for ownership, arena, and timing to line up.
Atlanta keeps hanging around this conversation because there are still multiple groups trying to bring the league back.
Bill Daly said the NHL met with several Atlanta groups, but the league still wants what he called a fully baked plan before taking the next step.
That's the key distinction.
Atlanta has momentum, but the league does not sound ready to rubber-stamp anything until one bid separates from the pack with a clean arena and ownership path.
Houston might be the cleaner play right now.
ESPN reported in March 2025 that Dan Friedkin had emerged as a strong ownership option there, and Daly confirmed the league had met with his group on multiple occasions.
The NHL is waiting, not chasing
Pagnotta's wording is what stands out most.
The league knows it has options in Atlanta, knows it has options in Houston, and knows there are interested parties elsewhere too.
That sounds like a commissioner's office waiting for billion-dollar certainty, not pitching cities door to door.
And the money has changed the tone. Pagnotta said once someone is ready to put up 2-plus billion dollars, the NHL will listen, while Jeff Marek openly wondered if the number now feels closer to 3 billion.
So yes, this is still expansion talk, not expansion done. But the field looks slimmer than before.
Right now, Atlanta has volume. Houston has clarity. And if Pagnotta is reading the room right, those are the two markets everyone else is chasing.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 28|283 ANSWERS NHL's next expansion move reportedly already down to two markets Should the NHL expand to Houston before Atlanta ? | ||
| Yes | 178 | 62.9 % |
| No | 105 | 37.1 % |
| List of polls | ||