Gary Bettman's decades-long run as NHL commissioner may have an actual finish line now, and Elliotte Friedman thinks he's found it.
Friedman laid out his theory this week on the 32 Thoughts podcast, connecting dots that have been floating around the league office for months.
"We had said the NHL was discussing a succession plan," Friedman said.
Then he went further. "I think this is Gary Bettman's plan: new TV deal, expansion, a better TV deal with Houston and Atlanta, then sayonara. Bill Daly takes over."
That's a specific roadmap, not a vague hunch. Friedman tied Bettman's exit directly to two unfinished pieces of business.
The first is a new broadcast deal, one expected to grow richer once Houston and Atlanta are added to the league's footprint.
The second is expansion itself, targeted for around 2029-2030, which would give Bettman one more signature project before stepping aside.
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Gary Bettman reportedly has a three-step plan before stepping down
Put those two timelines together and Friedman's theory points toward a Bettman exit somewhere around 2030-2031.
Bill Daly, the league's current deputy commissioner, remains the name that keeps surfacing whenever succession comes up.
Reports differ on whether a formal search process even exists yet. But every signal so far points the same direction, toward Daly.
Bettman has held the commissioner's job since 1993, a run that's rare anywhere in North American professional sports.
That kind of tenure doesn't end quietly, and it won't end without the league securing exactly the deals it wants first.
Whether Daly is actually the answer once that transition happens is a separate question entirely, one plenty of fans and team executives will be watching closely.
For now, this stays a theory from one insider, not a formal announcement, and Bettman himself has said nothing publicly to confirm any of it.
The next real signal to watch is that broadcast deal itself. Once it lands, Friedman's whole timeline suddenly looks a lot less speculative and a lot more like a countdown.
Would Bill Daly be a good successor to Gary Bettman as NHL commissioner?
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