History of the National Hockey League (2017–present)
Prior to 2017, the NHL's last expansion was in 2000, adding the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild to bring the number of teams to thirty.
[4] In June 2015, the NHL announced that it was officially considering expansion and set an application deadline for July 20, 2015 for teams to begin play in 2017.
This led to a large number of trade deals by Las Vegas, as existing teams sought to protect players strategically.
[10] In their first season as a franchise, the Golden Knights became an immediate success, capturing the Pacific Division title en route to an appearance in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, a feat never seen before in North American professional sports.
In their Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign, the team's 62 wins tied the 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings' then-NHL all-time record,[19] with Nikita Kucherov's 128 points then the most in a single season during the salary cap era.
[24] The Lightning subsequently rebounded, defeating the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup the following year after a pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season and modified playoff format.
[27] In 2022, the year after the Lightning's second consecutive Stanley Cup victory, the cross-state Florida Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time,[28] despite head coach Joel Quenneville resigning early in the season as a result of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal.
[31] The following offseason, the Panthers hired Paul Maurice as head coach and traded for Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk.
[32][33] After narrowly making the playoffs as a wild card, the Panthers upset the heavily favored, record-breaking Boston Bruins in the first round in seven games, despite facing a 3–1 deficit.
[49] The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe event saw the Golden Knights play the Avalanche in the first game, and the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers in the second.
Unlike previous NHL outdoor games, it was not held in a stadium or ballpark but in a golf course overlooking the lake; no fans were in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 3, 2018, the Capitals hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, in a partnership between the NHL and the United States Armed Forces.
In early March 2020, the NHL suspended media access to the locker rooms, saying that only official personnel would be allowed in after the games to limit person-to-person contact.
After the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended all games when two players tested positive for the disease, the NHL scheduled a meeting to discuss pausing the season.
Many of the logistics still required negotiation, including COVID-19 testing protocols, visas, and whether these games would be held in one or more "hub" cities as the Canada–United States border remained closed to non-essential travel until June 21.
If a player tested positive, they were not allowed to attend training until cleared, with teams suggested to use guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Bettman stated that at least two hub cities would be used for the playoffs, shortlisting hosts such as Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto (the latter two of which would be chosen by the league on July 1).
[78] As Canada's Quarantine Act required all travelers entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival, Deputy Commissioner Daly stated that it could impact the ability to use Canadian host cities unless the issues could be addressed.
[76] On June 10, British Columbia Premier John Horgan stated that the province's medical officer Bonnie Henry had endorsed proposed protocols developed by the Vancouver Canucks in collaboration with local officials, and that they were being sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for federal approval.
[81] Amidst an intense growth of new cases in Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning temporarily closed their training facility on June 19 after several staff members and three players tested positive for COVID-19.
The next day, Global BC's Richard Zussman reported that the NHL had "moved on [for now]" from Vancouver, and was increasing its focus on Edmonton and Toronto as potential sites.
[83] While Las Vegas was initially considered a front-runner, a spike of cases in Nevada and other U.S. states led to reports on July 1 that the NHL had decided on Edmonton and Toronto as the sites.
[3] Though he failed to achieve 150 again in 2023–24, McDavid instead became the fourth player in NHL history, and first since Wayne Gretzky in 1990–91, to reach 100 assists in a single season.
[106] The same year, McDavid led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals;[107] although the Oilers ultimately lost in seven games, McDavid led the team back from a 3–0 series deficit to even the series,[40] ultimately becoming the sixth player and second skater ever (after Reggie Leach in 1975) to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP despite losing the Finals.
[116] The sale, which involved the NHL buying the franchise from Coyotes owner Meruelo, then reselling it to Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), became official on April 18, after the NHL Board of Governors voted to establish a team in Utah using the Coyotes' hockey assets;[117] under the terms of the agreement, rather than a formal relocation, the Coyotes were initially considered "inactive", with Utah regarded as an expansion team in a similar situation to the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.
If this effort was successful, the Coyotes would have been "reactivated" through an expansion draft; conversely, if Meruelo had failed to provide a suitable arena by end of that five-year window, he would have been required to cede the franchise back to the NHL.
[119] Two months after the initial sale, the NHL confirmed that Meruelo had opted not to continue his pursuit of an arena, ceding his rights to the Coyotes and ending the possibility of re-activation.
