Thirty-two teams soon will become 34, which surely at some point will become 36.

NHL expansion isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Whether that’s the right call remains to be seen.

Money talks, and money is no doubt talking when it comes to expansion in the NHL. When the Seattle Kraken were approved to join the NHL back in 2018, the expansion fee was set at $650 million. Fast forward eight years and that fee is now rumored to be around $2 billion.

That’s a big number, so it’s no wonder the league will continue expanding into new (and old) markets. Texas, whether in Austin or Houston, is a near shoo-in to be included in the next expansion process, whenever the NHL officially begins one. The other market the NHL expands into to even things out could be one fans (and the league) are familiar with.

Is the third time the charm for Atlanta? NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said this week the league is in talks with a third group that is interested in bringing an NHL team to Atlanta — again. Beyond Atlanta, a few groups from Phoenix are interested in trying to bring the NHL back to their city.

Again.

Past failures aside, one can’t blame the NHL for attempting to return to those markets. They’re massive, and if the league was to figure things out in either city, it could be a very good thing. But as the old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. There’s no saying for getting fooled a third time.

Choosing the correct market is one thing, but the biggest question around expansion for me: is there enough talent out there to keep up with all this expansion?

The NHL found lightning in a bottle with Las Vegas. The NHL was the first league that jumped into an untapped market that hit the ground running. That miracle first season will never be recreated again by another expansion franchise, but it did allow Vegas to immediately become an attractive market for players. The favorable tax laws combined with an aggressive front office and ownership group turned the Golden Knights into a destination.

On the flip side, you have the Seattle Kraken. They saw what Vegas did with their immediate success and wanted to replicate that. The Kraken had a miracle season in 2022-23, upsetting the Avalanche in the first round before falling in the second. Outside of that season, they have been the one thing you don’t want to be called as a franchise: irrelevant.

Despite playing in a beautiful arena that sells out most nights, they are stuck in mud like a lot of NHL franchises. They’re not run all that well and they can’t attract talent. In the last 12 months, they’ve tried to lure Artemi Panarin and Jason Robertson to their team by offering them boatloads of cash. They’ve failed both times. Can you even name five players on their roster? If you can’t, don’t feel bad because you aren’t alone.

The Kraken at least have an excuse in that they’re a new franchise trying to break through. What excuse do other NHL franchises have? Can the average fan name five players on the Red Wings? Blackhawks? Blue Jackets? Flames? The list goes on. The mushy middle seems bigger than ever, while the amount of great teams in the NHL shrinks each year.

That may be what the NHL wants. Fewer great teams means more franchises have the chance the sneak into the playoffs because the pool of average to slightly below average teams is growing. But as the talent pool gets diluted and the star players pick and choose the four or five teams they want to play for, it gets harder and harder for teams to leave that mushy middle.

There’s a reason why the Avalanche didn’t bat an eye at paying Cale Makar $20.4 million a year. Once you have those guys, you have to keep them because the odds of finding another are slim to none.

Expansion is coming. It’s a foregone conclusion. But accepting that it will be good for the on-ice product of the NHL is very much up for debate.

What I’m hearing

• Quinn Hughes on what’s going on with a contract extension in Minnesota: “It is my life. I’m not going to do anything to make someone else happy. Obviously, I like to think of myself as a thoughtful person … I think that everyone’s got to do whatever makes them happy and where the chips fall they fall.” I’m not sure I know what that means but it has been funny seeing Wild fans and Devils fans twist the wording to fit their narratives. He’s going to get a lot of money, he just has to decide who will be paying him. If it was anyone other than Minnesota or New Jersey (with his brothers), it would be a massive surprise.
• We’re a few weeks out from official predictions, but right now, I’m leaning towards the Utah Mammoth finishing ahead of the Wild in the Central. Elliotte Friedman reports that the Mammoth are one of the teams after Connor Hellebuyck. If they do find a way to acquire him, I’d feel even more comfortable making that prediction.

What I’m seeing

• Avalanche first-round pick Mikhail Gulyayev’s role has flipped to start the year. He’s averaging over 22 minutes on defense early in the KHL season. Of course, it might be a few years until Avalanche fans see him in the NHL, if they ever do, since this summer he signed a two-year extension in Russia.
• Sidney Crosby says he wants to continue playing for “a number of years.” Keep that hope alive, Avalanche fans. Crosby could play (and be effective) well into his 40’s if he really wanted to.

What I’m thinking

• The NHL lost a legend in Barry Melrose on Wednesday night to Parkinson’s disease. if you’ve watched the show “Shrinking,” you know what they say about that terrible disease. Melrose was a must-watch for hockey fans on ESPN during the NHL2Night days and was the lone hockey guy left to stand up for the sport when the NHL and ESPN separated after the lockout. No one has rocked a better-looking mullet. There will never be another Melrose.
• I hinted at it two weeks ago, but the Pioneers made the hiring of Angelo Ricci official last week as their first director of skill development. A great program adding an NHL-caliber coach to an already stacked staff.