(Breaking News) NHL's deputy commissioner talks about expansion.

The NHL's deputy commissioner spoke candidly about the NHL's plans to expand in a sit down interview with the Star Tribune's Michael Russo. There has long been talks of expanding teams to potential markets like Las Vegas, Toronto, Quebec City, Seattle, and even Kansas City. Now however it seems liker the NHL is closer than ever, and if we read anything into Daly's comments during the interview, he sounds almost excited at the prospect. Daly even admitted that he had met with a potential ownership group in Las Vegas this weekend, MGM Resorts. MGM Resorts is currently developing a $350 million dollar 20,000 seat venue next to the New York New York Hotel and Casino, a 20,000 seat venue they clearly intend to fill with an NHL franchise. Daly however was quick to point out that the NHL was not only aware of potential issues of having a team in Vegas but also that they were prepared to meet those challenges head on if the time comes. Again from the Star Tribune:

“Look, as there tends to be in some of the warmer-weather markets, I think there would be a significant home-ice advantage [if the league expanded there],” Daly said, laughing. “The home players will know how to kind of deal with the distractions of Vegas and the visiting players maybe not so much. It’s something we would have to be careful about, but I think mostly our guys are pretty good guys. They get training in that area.”

Daly also said the league would also look to the state of Nevada to help them with legislature regarding the locla team being removed from the sports books, similar to what UNLV did with its college basketball team years ago.

“It’s really more a visceral rationale than anything else,” Daly said. “You don’t want guys in the stands with bet tickets in their hands and the only reason they’re watching the game is so they can cash in on a bet afterwards. That’s not an environment you want to foster or create as a professional sports league."

One thing is for sure, with new arenas being erected in both Quebec as well as Las Vegas, the NHL has become more and more open on the subject of expansion, we could see several new teams in the coming years.