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No doubt it will be an occasion for the expansion franchise to talk up all the good news — the executive team full of familiar hockey names, the robust ticket sales, the expansion draft rules that have been rigged to ensure the Not Aces will be decent off the jump.

None of this will explain why the NHL thought it a good idea to expand in the first place.

On Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes beat Montreal in front of an announced crowd of 12,101 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh. A game with the arena more than a quarter empty, against the hottest team in the NHL and one of its storied franchises, was actually a bright spot on the Hurricanes season. Three of Carolina’s seven home dates have had announced crowds below 9,000 and, other than the sellout home opener against the New York Rangers, the Hurricanes have played before an average audience of just over 10,000.

For Sunday’s home game against the Winnipeg Jets, tickets were available on resale sites for $12.

The Hurricanes aren’t exactly a threat to relocate, as they have a lease at PNC Arena that runs for another seven years, but owner Peter Karmanos, who moved the team to Carolina from Hartford, wants to sell, and it is no surprise that he does not have a line of local buyers interested in taking the team off his hands. He doesn’t even have the beginnings of a line.

It’s not unreasonable to imagine that a few more months of 8,000-plus crowds in Raleigh would increase the chances that Karmanos will sell to someone who is interested in buying out the arena lease and decamping.