Quote:
Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef
I hope that when they expand they do a couple 1 off expansions like they did with the Sharks, Thrashers and Predators rather than forcing 2 new teams in at once like they did with Ottawa/Tampa, Anaheim/Florida and Minnesota/Columbus
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The Sharks were the only single team expansion, and that kicked off the formal expansion process for what ended up being the Ottawa and Tampa franchises. The Sharks also brought the league to an even number of teams.
Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville, and Atlanta were all awarded expansion franchises on the same day, but they were conditional upon the teams having an arena available to play in, which is why they started play in different seasons. Nashville's arena was already complete and Atlanta's was under construction when the conditional franchises were awarded, which is why they started play before the other two, whose arenas didn't break ground until a year later.
The league will almost certainly want the next expansion to be an even number as well.