Realistic East Coast expansion candidate: Atlanta, GA
The other realistic candidate on this list for this round of NHL expansion talks, at least based on recent reporting and discussions with league officials, has been moving back into Atlanta, GA. That report from The Athletic this week that confirms Houston and/or Austin being in play for NHL expansion by the end of the decade also mentioned ongoing discussions for expansion with Atlanta and Phoenix, AZ.
There are strong cases to be made both for and against expanding back to the city of Atlanta for the NHL in this round of expansion discussions. The strongest case in favor of expanding to Atlanta is that the city and the metro area more broadly are rapidly growing cultural hubs that already have multiple successful professional sports franchises.
The Atlanta metro has added an estimated over a million residents since 2010s, and the city proper has grown by roughly 30 percent in the last 15 years. Atlanta's growth remains strong going into the 2030 census.
This region of the country also gives the NHL opportunities to add natural geographic rivalries and competition with established and successful franchises in the South. A new Atlanta franchise could establish geographically relevant rivalries with teams in bordering states like North Carolina and Florida.
The obvious argument against Atlanta is that the NHL already tried to expand into the Peach State twice in the past few decades, and both times, teams ended up relocating to Canadian cities within 15-20 years after those expansion tries.
Has that much really changed this time around that hockey in Atlanta will work out better than it did with the Flames and Thrashers in this past few decades before this round of expansion talks?
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