Rumor: At least one Canadian team looking to move games out of the country.

The National Hockey League does not appear to be happy about the state of affairs in Canada at the moment and it sounds like some drastic measures may be forthcoming in the near future if things do not change, and change quickly.

On Saturday night during the broadcast of the NHL's All-Star Games, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that at least one Canadian team had inquired about the possibility of moving their home games out of the country. It will perhaps come as no surprise to fans that the team he mentioned was the Ottawa Senators, owned by notoriously frugal owner Eugene Melnyk, but this may be a much bigger problem than just one team.

The reason that the Senators have inquired about the possibility of moving their home games out of the country is of course due to the fact that they are unable to open up their buildings to hockey fans. The restrictions put in place by local governments in that country in the hopes of curbing the spread of Covid have left NHL arenas in Canada either entirely empty for extended periods of time or with a very limited number of fans allowed to attend, and while that is well within the rights of those local governments it has also dealt a massive financial blow to the teams based in the markets impacted by those policies.

Most estimates indicated that teams in Canada are losing several millions of dollars each and every month, and even if moving their games south of the border would only allow them to recoup a fraction of those costs it could prove to be a viable strategy if the restrictions aren't lifted.

It would appear as though the NHL itself is open to the idea as well, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman making what nearly amounts to threats this week regarding the league's teams in Canada. Bettman indicated that a number of teams in Canada, which would imply it is not only the Senators asking these questions, have asked about playing home games in the U.S. and even hinted at the fact that the league could allow it to happen if the restrictions aren't lifted sooner rather than later.

If this venture proved to be at all successful, you have to wonder what that could mean for the future of NHL hockey north of the border.