History of NHL Relocation

Since the league's inaugural season in 1917, the NHL has presided over the relocation of thirteen teams, four prior to the cementing of the Original Six in 1942 and the remaining seven clubs commencing in the mid-1970s.

The chart below shows each instance of the relocation of a NHL team, sorted by year, old team name and new team name.

Year	Old Team Name	New Team Name
1920	Quebec Bulldogs	Hamilton Tigers
1925	Hamilton Tigers	New York Americans*#
1930	Pittsburgh Pirates	Philadelphia Quakers#
1934	Ottawa Senators	St. Louis Eagles#
1976	California Golden Seals	Cleveland Barons#
1976	Kansas City Scouts	Colorado Rockies
1980	Atlanta Flames	Calgary Flames
1982	Colorado Rockies	New Jersey Devils
1993	Minnesota North Stars	Dallas Stars
1995	Quebec Nordiques	Colorado Avalanche
1996	Winnipeg Jets	Phoenix Coyotes*
1997	Hartford Whalers	Carolina Hurricanes
2011	Atlanta Thrashers	Winnipeg Jets

* Team was victim of NHL Renaming
# Team was victim of NHL Contraction

As indicated by the footnotes above, several teams have endured change in the form of renaming and contraction. The number of NHL teams and regular season games played by year may be found here.

Seven active NHL teams are a product of relocation (Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets).  The current record for the most relocations by a single NHL team is two, held jointly by the Quebec Bulldogs (Hamilton Tigers, New York Americans) and Kansas City Scouts (Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils). Only twice has a relocated club carried their team name to the new town (Flames, Stars).

The most recent NHL team relocation saw Atlanta lose their second team in 31 years (Flames 1980, Thrashers 2011) and Winnipeg land their second club in 32 years (Jets 1979, Jets 2011). The New York Islanders moved a mere 27 miles west from Uniondale to Brooklyn in 2015. The team now splits its home games between Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center until their new rink in Belmont is ready in 2021.

In 2013, the Glendale counsel voted 4-3 to keep the Coyotes for five more years, narrowly averting a relocation of the club to Seattle or Quebec City. On June 30, 2022, the city of Glendale evicted the Coyotes over to alleged unpaid taxes and rink charges. The team will play the next three seasons at ASU's 5,000 seat Mullett Arena in Tempe. 

While the NHL prefers expansion over relocation owing to the spectacular fees for owners, the continued financial struggles of several Sun Belt squads may yield more relocation in the years to come.

* See also History of NHL Expansion.

* See also History of NHL Contraction.

* See also History of NHL Team Renaming.