Houston makes significant step towards a potential NHL expansion team!

Earlier this season, reports emerged that the NHL could expand by as many as four teams in the coming years, bringing the total up to 36 teams.

There are additional rumours that NHL owners were to formally approve the opening of an expansion period, and several cities have expressed interest in getting a new franchise. One one them took a significant step into getting a franchise plan in motion.

According to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, “Billionaire Dan Friedkin has emerged as strong ownership candidate to bring NHL to Houston.”

She added: “NHL has met with The Friedkin Group several times as league fields interest on potential expansion.”

It was recently reported that Friedkin was previously in talks to purchase the NBA’s Boston Celtics. The Celtics were sold on Thursday, as a group led by Bill Chisholm, managing partner at Symphony Technology Group, agreed to the purchase with Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, a group led by co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, for a valuation of $6.1 billion.

Not it’s believed his interest has shifted to the NHL.

Kaplan’s reporting states that The Friedkin Group has met with the NHL on several occasions, and given that many hockey owners have ties to the NBA, other owners are likely open to bringing Friedkin into the fold.

Known to be a sports lover, Friedkin and his organization currently owns a majority stake in two European soccer clubs, Everton FC of the Premier League in England and AS Roma of Serie A in Italy.

I don’t know a ton about the Houston hockey scene, but the city itself has both the population base and the sports culture to support another pro franchise. Houston already hosts the Astros (MLB), Texans (NFL), Rockets (NBA) and Dynamo FC (MLS). It’s expected that a potential Houston NHL team would be owned by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who also owns the Toyota Center in downtown Houston.

Ahead of the start to the 2024-25 season, the NHL’s Board of Governors convened for their annual meeting and elected NOT to vote on expansion. That means that we will NOT see an NHL expansion for the 2025-26 season and the earliest that the league could approve expansion would be in the 2026-27 season, if at all.

Cities like Kansas City, Quebec City and Atlanta have also been mentioned on several occasions in the past as wanting to get an NHL franchise on their turfs.