Price Tag for NHL Expansion Team Revealed - Putting the Nordiques' Comeback in Doubt

Even though Gary Bettman and the other governors won't admit it publicly, the appeal of money is likely the main reason why NHL leadership wants to welcome new franchises - and it looks like we have an update on that front.

As reported by the site HABSolumentFan, TSN journalist Chris Johnston appeared on the podcast The Steve Dangle Podcast and revealed the amount investors will need to pay to acquire an NHL franchise.

According to his information and what Gary Bettman is said to have announced behind closed doors, it will cost no less than 2 billion U.S. dollars. Wow!

Let's just say that's a far cry from the $500 million Bill Foley paid in 2016-2017 to bring the Vegas Golden Knights into the NHL, and from the $650 million paid by the Seattle group two years later.

We know that the cities of Atlanta and Houston are among the frontrunners, but other U.S. cities have also shown interest.

As for Quebec, there's no update for now, but the suggested price of $2 billion may cool some interest, as that amount would be around $2.7 billion in Canadian dollars. Ouch.

It's fair to ask whether any individual or business in Quebec has pockets deep enough to make that kind of investment.

Personally, I'm intrigued by the name Luc Poirier, but we'll see.