[Article] NHL Expansion: The Very Good Case for Why Toronto Should Get a Second Team

[RWJC]

NHL Expansion: The Very Good Case for Why Toronto Should Get a Second Team

 

Adam Proteau

The Hockey News 
August 25 2024 

 

 

As part of a series on NHL expansion, Adam Proteau is focusing attention on the possibility of Toronto getting a second NHL team, and says there's a very good case to be made that the home of the Maple Leafs could handle a rival.

 

THN’s new series on NHL expansion continues with the latest look at one of the cities that could land the 33rd or 34th NHL franchise.

 

This writer recently stated that expansion is likely to happen at some point in the next handful of years, but in these articles, we’re looking at the cities most likely to acquire a new team, and exploring how compelling their case is as they pursue a new franchise.

 

Thursday, we started the expansion evaluation process with a look at the town we see as the odds-on favorite to get a new team – Houston; Friday, we examined Phoenix, Ariz. as another favorite to get an expansion team; Saturday, we focused on Atlanta, Ga. and today, we’re breaking down the prospect of a second team in Toronto.

 

TORONTO

 

Population, Toronto Proper: 2,794,356 (as of 2021 census) 

 

Population, Greater Toronto Area: 6,202,225

 

Toronto is now the fourth-most populous North American city, behind Mexico City, New York City and Los Angeles. Toronto is home to the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays and the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

TV Market Ranking: Toronto is the biggest media market in Canada by far, with 8.29 million TV households. That puts Toronto fourth-overall in North America behind New York (20.4 million), Los Angeles (17 million) and Chicago (9 million) according to statista.com.

 

Arena: The prospect of a second Toronto NHL team almost certainly would mean the construction of a new NHL-cabiler arena – and the challenge there is to find the right parcel of land to build a new rink on. For years, the possibility of building in the Downsview suburb across the highway from the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, or in nearby Markham, Ont., has been discussed by more than a few people, inside and outside hockey’s walls of power. There’s really no downtown Toronto plot of land that would fit a new team, but make no mistake – if they know building the rink will assure them a second NHL franchise in Toronto, rich folks will be lining up to put up the (private) money for such a project.

 

Forget the rumors the Maple Leafs have a veto over the creation of a second Toronto team; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are both on the record stating the Leafs hold no such veto power – and if there’s a will, and there’s enough money involved, there’s always going to be a way to get this type of deal done.

 

Hockey History: Where to begin? Toronto is a hockey city’s hockey city, and while some can and do make the argument Toronto is more of a Leafs Town than a Hockey Town, from our perspective, there’s more than enough hockey love in Toronto to sustain a second NHL team for the region. The thrill of seeing an organization built from the ground up would drive interest in the first year of a second Toronto team, and from there, it comes down to what it always comes down to in every market: winning.

It’s easy to understand why the Leafs wouldn’t want another group parachuting into the picture – a second Toronto team would bite into their considerably large piece of the NHL’s financial pie – but there’s also the possibility of having a second Toronto team drive an instant rivalry for the T.O. market that takes the business to new heights.
 

Our opinion: It’s a no-brainer, given what we know about Toronto hockey fans. Give them a winning organization, and you’ll have them for life. And if the Leafs are confident in their blueprint for success, a second Toronto team shouldn’t be a non-starter for them. They should welcome the challenge, and use it as a jump-off point to make their product the cream of the crop. 

 

Ultimately, if you know the degree of Toronto’s love for the sport, you know Torontonians would be champing at the bit to get an alternative option for NHL hockey in the area. They're the lifeblood of the industry, and they deserve it.

 

Why Toronto is Worth Considering:

Look at it this way: if the greater New York City Area can sustain three NHL teams in close proximity, and if California itself can sustain three teams – and if Dallas soon gets Houston as their own built-in NHL rivalry – then surely Toronto can sustain two teams. And giving genuine competition to the Leafs could be just the tonic the Leafs need to ratchet up their on-ice product.

 

You’ll never see Leafs Nation truly abandon this team, and that’s to the credit of the well-managed Buds organization. But using a second Toronto team as the foundation of a new-era megabucks-making rivalry makes a lot of business sense for the Leafs. The NHL and the rest of the league should be firmly supporting this idea, as it would push Hockey-Related Revenue to new heights. More money for the Leafs and more money for other teams in terms of revenue sharing. Lots of winners in a world where there are two Toronto NHL teams. And if Toronto is the engine that drives the league, why can’t a second engine drive even more money everyone’s way?

 

Toronto has its fervent supporters for Blue Jays baseball and Raptors basketball, but Leafs devotion is a little bit different. That said, anything that’s competing on a global scale is something Toronto sports fans want to be emotionally and financially invested in. For that reason, another NHL team would immediately be embraced, and would quickly become one of the most valuable franchises in the league.

The Chicago Cubs have the White Sox in their area. The NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets always draw comparisons to one another. The New York Knicks have the Brooklyn Nets, and California has four freaking NBA teams. Asking for another NHL team in Toronto isn’t selfish – it’s what the market can bear. We suspect most Toronto hockey fans could still love the Leafs while at the same time appreciating and following a second Toronto team.

 

For a multitude of reasons, Toronto can handle two NHL teams. And the longer it goes without a second team, the more Toronto will have an appetite for one. Other cities will probably get a team before Toronto gets a second team, but the league ought to reconsider the merits of giving them a new franchise. The business of the game can handle it, and the culture of the game would welcome it. More jobs for players, more media attention and more opportunities for people in the hockey world on and off the ice. Though we’re not holding our breath for a second team, this should be the way for the NHL in its most lucrative market. Other towns got the chance to prove they can be the home of multiple teams, and Toronto should get that same chance.

https://apple.news/ADRlZrj-jTMS22fcmFziqEQ

[Canuck You]

Good time to move to Toronto and open up a counseling center.

[canucks curse]

give Hamilton one, they are an extension of the GTA essentially and they will draw new fans from citizens of the area who are not sports fans but will become hockey fans because this will be Hamilton's only major sports team 

great rivalries

 

The Steelheads 

[Devron]

Expansions dilute the game. They need to stop. 32 teams is enough 

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

31 minutes ago, Canuck You said:

Good time to move to Toronto and open up a counseling center.

 

What about just starting a remote help line?

[gwarrior]

Instead of giving Toronto a second team. Why not, oh I don't know, maybe test the water in a new market? Fuck going to Atlanta a 3rd time. Why not see if there is enough interest in Portland or Houston? Or maybe try Hartford a second time.

[King Heffy]

It's time for Toronto to finally get an NHL team.

[Snoop Hogg]

46 minutes ago, gwarrior said:

Instead of giving Toronto a second team. Why not, oh I don't know, maybe test the water in a new market? Fuck going to Atlanta a 3rd time. Why not see if there is enough interest in Portland or Houston? Or maybe try Hartford a second time.

Or Roswell. The fan support would be out of this world.

[gwarrior]

51 minutes ago, Snoop Hogg said:

Or Roswell. The fan support would be out of this world.

I'm DOWN with Roswell!!!! The hotel the road teams could stay in is the "little alie-inn".

[Elias Pettersson]

I'd love for Toronto to get a second team.  The ultimate troll would be if that expansion team won a cup before the Maple Leafs.  That would literally be the best thing on earth...

[DrJockitch]

Well I generally agree with what is written it lost all credibility when it talks of the loyalty of fans to such a well run organization. 
Really. I think Buffalo and Detroit would suffer more from this than the Leafs with one caveat, if a new team came in like Vegas and won a cup or two in TO..

Golden horseshoe could really use another team. I have friends who take the 2 hour trek into Toronto to see Leaf’s games fairly regularly.  It isn’t just Toronto it is all of Southern Ontario that would support another team and that is more like 8-10M people currently being under serviced by the Leafs. 

[grumpyone]

from what I read somewhere, there are over 15,000 on the waiting list for Leaf season tickets... instant full-house for new team. 

I do like the idea of Hamilton, though instead of Toronto proper.

Plus the idea that Hamilton winning a cup BEFORE the Leafs is hilarious and sweet. 

[Ghostsof1915]

Sort of hubris isn't it, the NFL has 32 teams, a lucrative TV contract, and the NHL wants to expand? The NHL just got out of a lousy market. It remains to be seen how Utah will support hockey long term. Even the Vegas expansion, Vegas hasn't had a stretch of struggling with hockey. (Something that I think will start to happen).

 

Maybe shore up the existing teams first before expansion. It would be good if the NHL started entering seed money to junior hockey, and hockey development. 

Edited August 26 by Ghostsof1915

[Nucker67]

Another day, another Leafs article (yawn)

[Shift-4]

Toronto has been wanting a team for years 

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Sort of hubris isn't it, the NFL has 32 teams, a lucrative TV contract, and the NHL wants to expand? The NHL just got out of a lousy market. It remains to be seen how Utah will support hockey long term. Even the Vegas expansion, Vegas hasn't had a stretch of struggling with hockey. (Something that I think will start to happen).

 

Maybe shore up the existing teams first before expansion. It would be good if the NHL started entering seed money to junior hockey, and hockey development. 

Expansion almost ruined the NHL.   The "Golden Era" 70-90's ground to a halt during the dead puck era and the fact the following generation couldn't carry the sport and fill out the rosters anymore.    Imagine if we retracted to 24 teams, all the fourth liners gone, scoring a finally up because the talent levels caught up.   For sure has a lot to do with it.   

 

That would be amazing as long as we weren't one of those teams .. 21-24 teams was the sweet spot.   Not freaking 8 per division.    No issue with moving teams that are in underserved markets, expansion is ridiculous as far as the Stanley Cup goes.    It's pretty much impossible to compete in the cap era in high tax markets.    And watching Europe and the old Soviet block get scoured and still not enough ... agree with anyone who says the league should be investing at the grass roots level.   Almost two decades of not so good product was tough enough.   Don't think i'd keep interest in the NHL if they added two more teams per division.   Don't have the bandwidth to wait a decade for the playoffs (Buffalo 11 and counting, CAR 9 years between, EDM 2 playoffs in close to 2 decades ... what we just went through with Benning is going to become the norm for good teams at the end of their cycle...how's Detroit doing anyways, they started at the same time as we did).    

 

As for TO, they'd carry two teams better than half the US markets.   FLD had a half empty building not that long ago.   CAR won a cup and for a decade after a half empty building needing antics to put butts in seats.   

Edited August 26 by IBatch

[BCNate]

Who wins a second round series first?  The Leafs or the expansion team?

[smithers joe]

if they bring in 2 teams at a time, how many players could we protect in the expansion draft?

7players, 5?

[Ballisticsports]

With another team in Toronto, how could TSN find time in a show to  fit in coverage of all other teams, scores, recaps etc?

[Pianoman]

14 hours ago, Devron said:

Expansions dilute the game. They need to stop. 32 teams is enough 

I see your point, but there is more skill now than ever before. The players just keep getting better, the sport is growing, I think there can be room for more teams if done correctly.

[Coconuts]

14 hours ago, Devron said:

Expansions dilute the game. They need to stop. 32 teams is enough 

 

They won't though, there's too much money in it and there's too much interest from potential landing spots. 

 

Read number 19, it may not be imminent but it will almost certainly happen. 

 

As far as Canadian markets go, another team in Toronto would probably be the most profitable option. Would be neat to see a team in Quebec, but it may never happen. 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-a-collection-of-late-off-season-notes/

[Bell]

14 hours ago, Devron said:

Expansions dilute the game. They need to stop. 32 teams is enough 

This.  Stop making us lose players to line Bettmans pockets.  

[Bob Long]

more Toronto for everyone! 

[Devron]

18 minutes ago, Pianoman said:

I see your point, but there is more skill now than ever before. The players just keep getting better, the sport is growing, I think there can be room for more teams if done correctly.

It’s the NHL league though. Best league for the best players. Maybe another tier league? I don’t know. I don’t like it but it is what it is 

[IBatch]

7 hours ago, Pianoman said:

I see your point, but there is more skill now than ever before. The players just keep getting better, the sport is growing, I think there can be room for more teams if done correctly.

Is there really?   I think that an argument could be made that there was more skill in the 21-24 team era then there is now.   There still hasn't been a collection of centers around like Sakic was competing with in the 90's.

  And the power forward is nothing like it used to be.    Sure fast is a thing.   But even that, still haven't seen a group of all-stars skate as fast as Gartner's record setting time (as a 17 year old vet) year.   Games changed.   It is nice to see a group of D's putting up points, and delightful to see save percentages crater to mid 90's levels (hint a dozen guys skated a 13.5 lap either in the qualifiers or the actual event, including Hedican, who wasn't really that fast). .   Talent is finally catching up to expansion  - why keep going there?   Kind of like to see a cup one decade too. 

Edited August 27 by IBatch