Insider Reports NHL Could Expand Beyond 32 Teams in a Year or Two
When the Seattle Kraken joined the NHL as its 32nd club, the league was in near perfect balance. 32 is a nice, round number, divisible by two, four, eight, and sixteen, giving the NHL an optimal number of teams with regards to playoff berthing and divisional alignment.
Not to mention added revenue sharing, which has been a huge boost for the NHL after the pandemic wrecked its financial stability. Still, it seems as though the NHL has plans to expand beyond 32 teams.
According to Insider Christ Johnston, the NHL could undergo further expansion in the next couple of years.
"Someone had predicted to me during the pandemic that, you know, these owners obviously took on a lot of water during the pandemic when they couldn't sell tickets to their buildings and all those sorts of things.
And that future expansion would be one way to recoup some of those losses. So that'll be something. I'm not saying that on the immediate horizon, but, you know, maybe in a year or two time we're talking about expanding the league beyond 32."
And that future expansion would be one way to recoup some of those losses. So that'll be something. I'm not saying that on the immediate horizon, but, you know, maybe in a year or two time we're talking about expanding the league beyond 32."
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DÉCEMBRE 6 | 455 ANSWERS Insider Reports NHL Could Expand Beyond 32 Teams in a Year or Two Which city is next in line for further NHL expansion? | ||
| Houston, TX | 241 | 53 % |
| Milwaukee, WI | 97 | 21.3 % |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 75 | 16.5 % |
| Omaha, NE | 42 | 9.2 % |
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Cutter Gauthier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Mikko Rantanen | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Bobby Brink | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirby Dach | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Bo Horvat | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Victor Olofsson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Clayton Keller | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Connor McDavid | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Rodrigues | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Walker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cam York | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brock Faber | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Roslovic | - | 2 | 2 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Canadiens | 12 | 9 | 3 | - | 18 | |
| Red Wings | 13 | 9 | 4 | - | 18 | |
| Maple Leafs | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 15 | |
| Lightning | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | |
| Senators | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 14 | |
| Bruins | 14 | 7 | 7 | - | 14 | |
| Panthers | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | |
| Sabres | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 13 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Devils | 13 | 9 | 4 | - | 18 | |
| Penguins | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 18 | |
| Hurricanes | 11 | 7 | 4 | - | 14 | |
| Blue Jackets | 12 | 7 | 5 | - | 14 | |
| Rangers | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 14 | |
| Islanders | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | |
| Capitals | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | |
| Flyers | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 19 | |
| Jets | 12 | 9 | 3 | - | 18 | |
| Mammoth | 12 | 8 | 4 | - | 16 | |
| Stars | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | |
| Blackhawks | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
| Predators | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 13 | |
| Wild | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 11 | |
| Blues | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 10 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Kraken | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 16 | |
| Ducks | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 15 | |
| Golden Knights | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | |
| Oilers | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Kings | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | |
| Canucks | 14 | 7 | 7 | - | 14 | |
| Sharks | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 11 | |
| Flames | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 8 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||