The NHL hopes to have a definitive agreement for an expansion team in Texas as early as December, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Hockey News' David Alter on Friday.
The franchise, which would be the NHL's 33rd, would be expected to debut as early as the 2029-30 season, Daly added.
The NHL has consisted of 32 teams since the Seattle Kraken commenced play in the 2021-22 campaign. The potential new franchise would be the NHL's second in Texas, joining the Dallas Stars, who relocated from Minnesota in 1993. Expansion would give the NHL the most teams among the major North American professional sports leagues, surpassing the NFL.
Houston is considered the priority, while Austin is being viewed as an alternative option, Daly said.
Dan Friedkin, whose net worth is $6.4 billion, according to Forbes, would be the owner of the 33rd franchise. Commissioner Gary Bettman said in June that the investment required would be $3.5 billion, split between an expansion fee and the cost of a new arena in one of the cities.
Canadian expansion isn't on the NHL's immediate radar due to a lack of prospective owners.
"I'd say the interest in terms of owning and operating a franchise in Canada is less vibrant than it is for some markets in the United States," Daly said. "With respect to other expansion interests in Canada, kind of bona fide interest from real cities is fairly low. I think we're in most of the big cities in Canada already."
Daly explained that while Quebec City has a "first-rate" facility in the 18,259-seat Centre Videotron, there are no current ownership groups that want to buy and operate a team in the city. The Quebec Nordiques relocated to Colorado in 1995.
"If and when that were to happen, that's something that obviously we would evaluate at the time because we think there are a lot of positives about Quebec City and potentially adding a franchise there," Daly said. "But right now, I'm not sure our vision is necessarily shared by anybody else. So we'll see."
