With the NHL’s Board of Governor’s set to meet next week, it looks almost certain that the NHL will be welcoming a 32nd team into the NHL. The new franchise will be based in Seattle, and could begin play as early as 2020-2021, or possibly 2021-22.
That means there will be yet another expansion draft coming up. The draft would take place after the 2019-2020 season, with only Vegas being exempt as a new franchise themselves.
The Calgary Flames had probably the best expansion draft in the entire league the last time around, with the Vegas Golden Knights opting to sign Deryk Engelland (who was already definitely going there) in their negotiation window.