The AHL, which is the top minor league for the NHL, is just as ready for an expansion announcement as we are here in Las Vegas.
AHL President David Andrews says he’s ready to add to his league.
Andrews on NHL expansion: “We anticipate we will add whatever number of franchises the NHL adds.” #AHLAllStar
— Pete Dougherty (@Pete_Dougherty) February 1, 2016
Once again, this is more proof that the NHL has done a lot of work behind the scenes in order to prepare for the addition of one or two more teams to the league. A Las Vegas franchise would of course need to AHL affiliate and that team would have to be in place just as quickly as the NHL team would.
We’ve brought up a few rumors about the city of Reno positioning itself for a team but that’s more likely an ECHL team than an AHL one. We’ve also discussed the possibly of a minor league franchise in Utah.
Reading into Andrews’ comments it’s likely The Creator, the NHL, and the AHL have already been in discussions about launching a minor league affiliate with the major league one. It’s certainly possible the day of the announcement they also shed some light on the AHL as well.
Only time will tell, but at least we know the AHL is on board, and more importantly, ready to go.

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