Timeline of the National Hockey League

Four/three teams (1917–19) The four teams that began the inaugural NHL season were the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the original Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas. However, after completing four games, the Wanderers withdrew from the league due to their arena burning down, and the NHL continued that season and the next with only three teams. Four teams (1919–24) In its third season, 1919–20, the NHL underwent its first expansion, adding the Quebec Bulldogs. Toronto changed its name to Toronto St. Patricks. 1920: Quebec relocates to Hamilton For the 1920–21 season, Quebec relocated to Hamilton and changed their name, becoming the Hamilton Tigers. Six teams (1924–25) Two new teams joined the NHL in its eighth season, the Boston Bruins, the first expansion team in the United States, and the Montreal Maroons. Seven teams (1925–26) The next season, the NHL added two new teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Americans. The Americans were stocked by purchasing the contracts of the Hamilton Tigers players, and the Tigers franchise was subsequently revoked by the league. Ten teams (1926–31) The NHL continued to expand the following 1926–27 season, adding the Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Cougars, and the New York Rangers, growing to ten teams, thus more than doubling its size in its first decade of existence. The league realigned into two divisions: the American Division and the Canadian Division. Despite its name, the Canadian Division contained at least one team based in the U.S. throughout its existence. At the same time, the Stanley Cup was contested between two NHL teams for the first time instead of at least one from an outside league. Midway through the 1926–27 season, the Toronto St. Patricks were sold and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs, however the league ruled the team must use the St. Patricks name until season's end. 1930: Pittsburgh relocates to Philadelphia For the 1930–31 season, the Pirates moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, and Detroit was renamed the Detroit Falcons. Eight teams (1931–32) After fourteen seasons of steady expansion, the NHL contracted to eight teams, dropping the Philadelphia Quakers and the original Ottawa Senators for the 1931–32 season. Nine teams (1932–35) For the 1932–33 season, after missing one season, the original Ottawa Senators rejoined the NHL, and the Detroit Falcons were renamed the Detroit Red Wings. 1934: Ottawa relocates to St. Louis For the 1934–35 season, the Ottawa Senators relocated, becoming the St. Louis Eagles. Eight teams (1935–38) The Eagles folded after one season, and the NHL was once again an eight-team league for three seasons. Seven teams (1938–42) The Montreal Maroons withdrew from the league for the 1938–39 season, further reducing the number of teams in the NHL to seven, shrinking to the size the league was in 1925–26. Play continued for four seasons with seven teams, with one single league table instead of any conference or divisions. 1941: Americans change their name The New York Americans changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans for the 1941–42 season, their last. == 1942–1967: Original Six era==

The 1942–43 season saw the folding of the Brooklyn Americans and ushered in an unprecedented era of franchise stability in the NHL, which lasted without any organizational changes for twenty-five seasons. Eventually, the six teams that competed in the league during this period would come to be known as the Original Six. == 1967–1991: Expansion era==

Twelve teams (1967–70) The 1967 expansion doubled the number of teams in the league, with an upfront expansion fee of $2 million each ($ million today). For the 1967–68 season, six new teams were added to the NHL: the California Seals, the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues. Within a month into their first season, the California Seals became the Oakland Seals. Fourteen teams (1970–72) The Oakland Seals were renamed the Bay Area Seals for two games before changing their name to the California Golden Seals for their fourth season in 1970–71. The same season the NHL added two new teams, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks, paying an expansion fee of $6 million each ($ million today). The Islanders were placed in the East and the Flames were placed in the West. Eighteen teams (1974–78) Two more teams joined for the 1974–75 NHL season, the Washington Capitals and the Kansas City Scouts, but the ongoing competition from the WHA meant that the overall revenue stream of the NHL had not improved, so the league kept the expansion fee for new owners at the $6 million ($ million today) of two years and four years earlier. The earnings situation for the new franchises was so poor that (at least) the Capitals were able to negotiate a reduction to a total fee of $2.85 million ($ million today). With 18 teams, the league realigned into four divisions and two conferences. The teams were mixed up regardless of North American geography, and thus the new conferences and divisions were not named after geographical references. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division. The West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division. 1976: Two teams relocate Going into the 1976–77 NHL season, the California Golden Seals relocated to become the Cleveland Barons, and the Kansas City Scouts moved to become the Colorado Rockies. Seventeen teams (1978–79) For the first time since the 1942–43 season, the NHL contracted, merging the Cleveland Barons into the Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars then took the Barons' place in the Adams Division. Twenty-one teams (1979–91) Following seven seasons of revenue draining competition, the NHL–WHA merger was completed for the start of the 1979–80 NHL season. Four teams came over from the WHA, paying an expansion fee of $7.5 million each ($ million today). These new NHL teams were the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the original Winnipeg Jets. This also doubled the number of Canadian teams in the league. Standing at 21 teams for twelve seasons, this was one of the longer periods of league stability, though surpassed by twenty-five seasons of the Original Six, when no additions, moves, nor name changes occurred. The Nordiques were placed in the Adams Division, the Whalers in the Norris, and the Oilers and the Jets in the Smythe. The Washington Capitals moved from the Norris to the Patrick Division. The divisions were effectively meaningless as all teams played a balanced schedule and each round of the playoffs was re-seeded by league point standings rather than divisional. 1980: Flames relocate to Calgary For the 1980–81 season, Atlanta relocated to become the Calgary Flames. 1981 realignment For the 1981–82 season, the teams were realigned to reduce travel. Also, the Norris Division moved to the Campbell Conference and the Patrick Division moved to the Wales Conference. 1982: Colorado relocates to New Jersey For the 1982–83 season, the Colorado Rockies relocated to become the New Jersey Devils. The team was moved to the Patrick Division, while the Winnipeg Jets took their place in the Smythe Division. 1986: Chicago changes the spelling of its name The Chicago Black Hawks changed their name to Chicago Blackhawks for the 1986–87 season. == 1991–2017: Further expansion and realignment ==

In 1990, the owners developed a plan to expand the NHL to 28 teams within a decade. The plan was enacted, creating ten years of rapid expansion and relocation in the NHL. While the pace of expansion and relocation slowed after the , growth and change continued to be a normal development. Twenty-two teams (1991–92) The saw the addition of the San Jose Sharks, paying an expansion fee of $45 million ($ million today). 1995: Nordiques relocate to Colorado For the , the Quebec Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche. The team also switched conferences, moving from the Northeast Division in the East to the Pacific Division in the West. 1996: Jets relocate to Phoenix For the , the original Winnipeg Jets relocated to become the Phoenix Coyotes. The team remained in the Central Division. 1997: Whalers relocate to the Carolinas For the , the Hartford Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes. The team remained in the Northeast Division. Twenty-seven teams (1998–99) The Nashville Predators joined the league for the , paying an expansion fee of $80 million ($ million today). However, on January 6, 2012, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) rejected that proposed realignment. A new joint NHL-NHLPA plan was proposed in February 2013 as a modification of the previous plan with both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings moving to the East and the Winnipeg Jets moving to the West. The NHLPA officially gave its consent to the NHL's proposed plan on March 7, and then the NHL's Board of Governors approved the realignment on March 14, to be implemented prior to the season. The league then announced the names of the divisions on July 19: the two eight-team divisions in the Eastern Conference would be the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division, and the two seven-team divisions in the Western Conference would be the Central Division and the Pacific Division. 2014: Coyotes change their name The Phoenix Coyotes changed their name to Arizona Coyotes for the . ==2017–present: Second century==

The league began its second century in 2017 and has continued to grow by adding the Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, and Utah Mammoth. However, it has also seen the Arizona Coyotes indefinitely suspend operations following the 2023–24 season, with the team's hockey assets, including its roster and coaches, being transferred to the newly-founded Utah franchise. Thirty-one teams (2017–2021) On June 22, 2016, the Board of Governors voted 30–0 to add an expansion franchise in Las Vegas for the , charging an expansion fee of $500 million ($ million today). The league reverted to its pre-COVID-19 divisions in 2021. Under the realignment of those divisions that was announced prior to the pandemic, the expansion Seattle Kraken were placed in the Pacific Division, while the Arizona Coyotes returned to the Central Division. After the Arizona State Land Department cancelled a June 2024 auction for a parcel of land that Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo intended to purchase as a site for a new arena, he relinquished his rights as the team's owner on July 10. , the league has not yet indicated whether the Arizona franchise will now fold outright, hold the rights to the Coyotes and wait for a potential expansion team, or whether its history, records and intellectual property will be transferred to the Utah Hockey Club or split between Utah and the current Winnipeg Jets. 2025: Utah changes its name The temporarily named Utah Hockey Club changed its name to the Utah Mammoth for the 2025–26 season. ==Expansion and dispersal drafts==

== Potential future expansion ==

After the , when the NHL completed its 1990 plan to grow to 30 teams, the league made statements to the effect that no further expansion or even relocation was planned for the foreseeable future. As shown above, no changes occurred until a relocation in the , followed by semi-regular growth and change. There have been rumors and talks of potential new sites for existing or new teams in various locations in the United States and Canada, including Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Quebec City, San Diego, Saskatoon, and a second Southern Ontario team (although the league has actively blocked all of the Southern Ontario efforts to date, including in Hamilton, citing territorial concerns with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs). ==See also==