Is the NHL cooling down on expansion a good thing?

While everyone is gearing up for the 2026-27 season, many are still looking ahead to what could be next for the NHL.

While the league is at an even 32 franchises, there’s chatter that the NHL’s brass are open to adding even more teams in the near future. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly stated earlier this offseason that a new team in Texas – particularly in Houston or Austin – could come by the 2029-30 season, though it isn’t a done deal.

However, the message coming out of the Board of Governors meetings in New York this week is that the league is slowing down the expansion conversation, despite clear interest from multiple markets in obtaining a franchise.

On this week’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss whether the league holding back on further expansion is a good thing.

Tyler Yaremchuk: [There] is a general vibe that the league seems to be cooling its expansion conversations. So, I got a couple fill-in-the-blanks for you. The first one is this: the NHL cooling expansion talks is ‘blank.’

Carter Hutton: I guess like unsurprising in a sense. Like, I think just the way the league is going, we’ve already made some moves adding Seattle, adding Vegas, Utah, getting a team. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. I think things are trending in the right way, so I think keeping it smooth as is for a little bit, kind of catching our breath, is an important factor.

Tyler: You just added Seattle not that long ago. Vegas is now only 10 years old. You look at other leagues; they’re not jonesing to expand the same way you are. I’ve always kind of said it feels like the owners just wanting to grab a quick check more than this is about truly growing the game properly. So, I’m happy that expansion talks are being cooled right now.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…