Possible - and increasingly likely - NHL expansion to Las Vegas and Quebec City has been pushed back. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly updated the potential timeline for an expansion vote recently, via an email to The Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Given where we are in the process, it is clear that expansion will not be voted on in December," the Review-Journal's email from Daly read.
By December, Daly means the NHL's annual Board of Governor's meeting in Pebble Beach. League commissioner Gary Bettman has said repeatedly that the NHL will take its time with possible expansion efforts, even going so far as to deny in the past during a conversation with HNGN that the NHL was even engaged in such efforts.
But Bill Foley, the man intent on bringing an NHL franchise to Las Vegas, remains unperturbed, despite the possibly lengthened timetable for a vote.
"We knew it was a possibility, and we've been in communication indirectly with the NHL," Foley said, per the Review-Journal. "We know we continue to make progress, and nobody has told us no at this point. So it's still moving forward.
"Obviously, the sooner it gets done, the better. But I understand they want to take their time. It's an important decision. Hopefully we'll know something at the All-Star Game."
As Jason Brough of Pro Hockey Talk notes, the league may actually have several worthwhile reasons for pushing back a vote on expansion. Seattle, a city the league has expressed interest in bringing a team to, has time to figure out its complicated arena issue, the Coyotes can make a determination on where they'll settle long-term after the city of Glendale opted out of their contract with the franchise, and the Panthers, facing issues in Broward County, can do the same.
The league is also likely waiting to see where the Canadian dollar, which has decreased in value of late, ends up before they make any final determinations.
