Salt Lake City hockey fans will get to see NHL action next season, but they’ll have to settle for a pre-season game.
The Los Angeles Kings announced on Monday that they’ll take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 23 as part of an extension of an agreement between the team and the Delta Center that began in 2021. The game is marketed as the Frozen Fury.
The announcement comes a few short weeks after Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) — the parent company of the Utah Jazz, Delta Center, Real Salt Lake (MLS), the Utah Royals (NWSL), and several other Utah-based sports and entertainment ventures — requested that the NHL initiate an expansion process.
The NHL responded to the public request by stating that Utah “is a promising market” and it looks forward to having further discussions with SEG.
Adding to the expansion intrigue is the fact the Kings will also play two pre-season games in Quebec City at Videotron Centre on Oct. 3 and Oct. 5 against Boston and Florida, respectively. Quebec City has a longstanding interest in having the NHL return to its city, having lost its franchise in a relocation to Denver in 1995.
Delays in announcing the selection of a new arena location for the Arizona Coyotes have also prompted speculation about Salt Lake City’s ability to provide a home for that franchise.
SEG had initially expressed an interest in bringing an NHL franchise to Utah with SEG owner and chairman Ryan Smith initiating conversations with commissioner Gary Bettman back in 2022.
The interest has now led to a formal request to the league with the proposal including a plan to build a new arena in Utah. Any decision of expansion has to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors.
Smith Entertainment Group said the city can host a team immediately out of Delta Center. The plan for a new arena is being “designed for professional and Olympic hockey.”
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee endorsed Salt Lake City as the American bid city for an upcoming Winter Olympics with the hopes to host in 2034.
