CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It seems like it's only a matter of time before the NHL expands again and adds to its 32 teams, with Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Houston and Quebec City looking like potential new homes for teams.
For this Survey Says, I wanted to ask Penguins players where they would put the next expansion team if it were up to them. I provided two clarifications when I asked -- first, not expanding isn't an option here. You have to pick a city. Second, your pick doesn't have to necessarily be realistic. It's where you would want to put a team, not where you think the league is heading next.
If it were up to me, if I had to pick somewhere realistic, I'd probably lean toward Salt Lake City. It feels like it'd be a pretty unique place to visit, and it'd probably be tacked onto the Las Vegas-Arizona trip for the Penguins, which would be a nice trip to extend. Unrealistically? I'd go with Baltimore. Obviously, I'm from there, so I'm biased. But it seems like it would provide the opportunity for a rivalry with the Capitals, Flyers and Penguins based on proximity. They'd probably have some extremely Baltimore name like the Baltimore Blue Crabs with the Maryland flag print mixed somewhere in the jersey design. The arena would obviously have crab cakes and crab dip somewhere -- maybe even crab cake egg rolls, if Jimmy's Famous Seafood has a stand like they do at Camden Yards. Old Bay on everything. It'd be great.
Here's what the Penguins' players (and some now-former Penguins players) picked. Some of them did go with more realistic options, and some got a little silly with it.
Marcus Pettersson: Stockholm! No, somewhere in the northwest like rural Montana or Utah. With Montana, just the landscape and everything there.
Noel Acciari: We need more warm cities. Mexico City.
Erik Karlsson: London, England. That'd be cool.
Ryan Shea: I would like a team in Salt Lake City. That would be a good atmosphere, something a little different. Something unique.
Drew O'Connor: I guess the three are like, Atlanta, Utah and Houston? I feel like Atlanta maybe not, they've already tried that a couple of times. I've never been to Atlanta aside being in the airport but I don't know if that would be an exciting place to travel. I think Utah would be really cool, I've never been to Salt Lake City.
Sam Poulin: Quebec City, because I'm from Montreal and Quebec. I grew up going to the Quebec tournament where the Nordiques used to play, so I thought that would be a great place to play.
P.O Joseph: As a Quebec person, I know Quebec City wants another team. I wasn't really understanding of the rivalry between the Nordiques and Montreal, but I know it's definitely a big one. Quebec would be a good place to put it.
Ryan Graves: Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's a good spot. I mean, it's as big as Winnipeg. I know it's not a huge population like some places they want to put one like Houston or whatever. But 100% of the people love hockey there.
Sidney Crosby: I'd go Halifax or Quebec City.
Joona Koppanen: I'd say Quebec. Canadian fans are such crazy fans, it'd be a good fit and there would be a lot of fans at the games.
Radim Zohorna: I would love to put a team in Prague.
Jack St. Ivany: London (England) would be sick. Obviously it's not realistic, but that'd be so cool. Just like seeing the English fans at soccer games, that be unbelievable for hockey.
Magnus Hellberg: Stockholm would be pretty sick, I might be a little biased. I'll say Rome, that's a cool city.
Reilly Smith: Maui would be nice, just another warm city.
Valtteri Puustinen: Hameenlinna (where he played in the Finnish league). There are good fans there, I remember when we played in the finals it was so, so so nice. It was a nice place. Also I have an apartment there.
Michael Bunting: I'll say Tucson, Arizona, where I spent my whole time in the American League. I love that city. It's a lot of fun. The fans were great. (Me: You're right, Arizona needs a second NHL team) They do! Yeah!
Jansen Harkins: Hawaii. I don't know if that'd work. But it seems like if you went all the way out there, you'd have a few days off, right? So it seems like it'd be a nice trip.
Bryan Rust: Hawaii's a little far away, but that'd be a good one. Or maybe a team in the Carribean somewhere. Or just Puerto Rico, it keeps it a little bit easier.
Jonathan Gruden: Realistically? Probably Quebec City. Unrealistic? Hawaii or Alaska, something like that.
Tristan Jarry: Portland, Oregon. I played there in junior and it was a really nice city, it had a good rink. They got a lot of fans for junior hockey so it'd be nice for them to get an NHL team.
John Ludvig: I want to say Portland, Oregon. I played junior there, it was a good hockey city, we had lots of fans for a junior team. I think they'd do good with an NHL team there.
Colin White: Salt Lake City, Utah, I think that'd be pretty cool. That's a pretty good area. San Diego would be pretty cool too, that'd be a good city.
Chad Ruhwedel: I know there's rumors of Salt Lake City, I think that could do really well. But I'd say Kansas City, maybe. They have an arena.
Lars Eller: Salt Lake City. I think just think it'd be cool. It's a city that seems to be a good fit for a winter sport. They have the basketball team and they could use another sports team. I read a lot of younger people are moving there, I think it'd be a good place to grow a franchise.
Emil Bemstrom: Stockholm. It's my hometown, basically.
Jesse Puljujarvi: Houston, it's one city that's more warm.
Jake Guentzel: Kansas City. The midwest. I feel like you could get something with Patrick Mahomes there, it'd be a cool thing. They have a nice arena there.
Rickard Rakell: San Diego. I like San Diego, it's a great city with a lot of good opportunities for hockey. I know the San Diego Gulls (Ducks AHL affiliate) have a pretty good fan base, I feel like getting an NHL team down there would be really nice for the fans and players.
Alex Nedeljkovic: Big Sky, Montana. Because I want to go there. (Me: I was sure you'd say Cleveland). Nah, they've got the Monsters. I want to live in the mountains. Can I play for the team or am I like the owner? (Me: I don't know, I didn't think that far. Maybe they pick you in the expansion draft?) Well, I'm going to make the executive decision and say that I will also be part of the organization in some shape or form.
Kris Letang: Dubai, they seem to do everything perfectly.
Past editions of Survey Says can be found here. Have an idea for a question? Leave it in the comments!
