After an amazing playoff year, the NHL is still busy as ever. Here is a look at the NHL schedule over the next couple weeks.
- June 16: Player buy outs start
- June 22: Schedule for 2014-15 Season released
- June 24: NHL Awards
- June 25: Free Agent talks can begin
- June 26: NHL Board of Governors Meeting
- June 27/28: Draft Day
- July 1: Free Agent Day
As you might be able to tell, the day that we should keep our eyes on is June 26th. If and it is a big if, the NHL plans to award a conditional expansion for a targeted 2016 season, July 26th will be the time they do it. Chris Daniels, tweeted this a while back and it is consistent with Geoff Baker’s narrative most of the spring.
You know what would put #Seattle on the clock w/ the #NHL? If the BOG started a “formal expansion process” in the next few weeks…
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) June 4, 2014
Based on some of the recent comments by Bettman, the City and Hansen, I don’t think we should be expecting anything. My hope is we get more color on what needs to happen to making the NHL to Seattle a reality. We know the biggest blocker in landing a team is the Arena and that arena plan is complex. The only way we here anything positive is if the NHL is relatively confident that the MOU can be reworked, a deal with Hansen/NHL group and the EIS passes in the fall.
