Voight
#winning
So thing to remember is that the NHL can afford to take a long view of things.
Take Seattle for example. City started a process to renovate the arena in 2016. Deal struck to renovate arena in 2017, and at the same time NHL officially explores expansion. 2018 expansion franchise announced. Expansion draft and team's first season in 2021.
The issue with the NHL is always, and will always be, is if someone is willing to pay the price. They'll put up with waiting for an arena, or waiting for renos, for quite awhile - if they get their money.
This isn't entirely correct. The process wasn't started until December 2017 and that was only when they knew the NHL would give them an expansion team.