The NHL could look very different in a few years, and not because of expansion.

The Arizona Coyotes, New York Islanders and Calgary Flames are all looking for new rinks, while the Carolina Hurricanes are simply a financial and attendance mess.

Any or all of them could go the relocation route: Quebec City has a rink. Houston has a rink. Seattle wants to build a rink.

You can almost draw straight lines from one NHL city to one wannabe NHL city, although it’s hardly as simple as that.

The thinking is the league will want to add a 32nd team in the West to balance the league. It’s in no rush because of franchises with arena issues, Having a bogeyman — a city that wants to steal a team — is good business. The NHL would be loath to take the bogeyman away and remove that bargaining chip: “Give us what we want or we’ll move to . . . ”

It starts with Calgary, and Seattle would be a logical landing spot. The Flames were in a heated standoff with the city over public financing of an entertainment district that would include a new rink, plus a new stadium for the CFL Stampeders. They’ve hinted they’d leave.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi just won re-election while this issue was front and centre, and is not likely to give in. The Flames say they’ve given up, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.

The more likely scenario is that this ownership group sells the Flames. A new Calgary-based group would probably find a way to build something and work creatively with the city. But if an ownership group from the States were to buy the Flames, then a move to Seattle would be more likely.

The Coyotes are also in a bit of a muddle, and Houston would be a terrific solution. The Coyotes’ arena lease in Glendale, Ariz., expires at the end of the season. There had been hope of building a new rink closer to downtown Phoenix, surrounded by a larger population base in a better location.

New majority owner Andrew Barroway says he doesn’t want to leave, but staying seems less and less palatable.

Meanwhile, the only reason the NHL isn’t in Houston already is because the man who owned the NBA’s Houston Rockets and controlled the Toyota Center didn’t want them. But Les Alexander has sold to Tilman Fertitta, and the new guy wants an NHL team because he wants fannies in those seats as many nights as possible.

And Quebec’s rink is up and ready to go, home to the Quebec junior league’s Remparts. It was built in hopes of doing what Winnipeg did: lure a team north with the promise of a sold-out venue built on a rich hockey history. They’re keeping their eye on the Islanders and Hurricanes.

The Isles want out of Brooklyn and are trying to get a rink built at Belmont Park, about 20 minutes from their old home in Uniondale. It’s in the early stages, so things are understandably optimistic. As for the Hurricanes — last in attendance — they’re for sale. The would-be buyer, Chuck Greenberg, is having a little trouble raising the $500-million U.S. asking price.

Commissioner Gary Bettman has always seemed oddly committed to Arizona, but didn’t mind when teams in Quebec, Winnipeg, Hartford, Minnesota and Atlanta moved.

And owners may even prefer the idea of relocation ahead of expansion, given they can charge and share in relocation fees in the hundreds of millions of dollars. They don’t have to lose a player in an expansion draft, and they wouldn’t have to share revenue such as TV money with a 32nd team.

IN THE LINE OF DUTY: One of the reasons why the Maple Leafs take a lot of too-many-men penalties is the way coach Mike Babcock likes to change on the rush. The first forward on is always the next centre, regardless of who the first forward off is. The second forward on is always the far-side winger, regardless of the second forward off. Most teams change position-for-position. It’s easier on a left winger to remember he’s always replacing a left winger than the Leafs’ way. The left winger is the second guy on in the first and third periods at home, and has to pay attention to the order forwards are coming off the ice.

KNIGHTS OUT: It’s almost comical what’s happened to the goaltenders with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. They’re down to their fourth- and fifth-stringers with Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban and now Oscar Dansk injured. “This doesn’t happen very often when you lose your No. 1 and 2 at the same time, and lose them for a significant period of time,” said GM George McPhee. “You just cross your fingers and hope we can continue to have people who can play well for us.” The Knights have used four goalies and were 8-3-0 heading into Tuesday night against the Rangers, when Maxime Lagace was expected to make his NHL debut backed up by Kamloops goalie Dylan Ferguson.

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CREATIVE OVERTHINKING: The Chicago Blackhawks’ power play is ranked 28th with a 12.7 per cent success rate. The Hawks have been truly dreadful over the past five games, going 1-for-21. Forward Brandon Saad has an unusual take on the matter. “Maybe there’s too many creative minds out there. Just try to do too much. It’s in our five-on-five game, too,” Saad told reporters in Chicago. The first power-play unit features Saad, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Nick Schmaltz.

JET FUEL: Steve Mason was supposed to be the saviour in net for the Winnipeg Jets, but was winless (0-3-1) heading into Tuesday night. The Jets are in fine shape, though, because Connor Hellebuyck had yet to lose in regulation — 5-0-1 with a .937 save percentage and 2.02 goals-against average. “The first few games, we were giving up way too many good chances — breakaways, two-on-ones and stuff like that — and you can’t ask your goalies to bail you out every time,” forward Bryan Little told the Winnipeg Sun. “We’ve limited those a bit and we’ve tightened up defensively.”

STATS PACK: Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has won nine games in a row, a Lightning record. Nikolai Khabibulin won eight from Feb. 23 to March 6, 2004. . . . A team has scored eight goals in a game six times this season, the most in October since 2006. . . . Sharks forward Joe Thornton collected an assist to pass Jari Kurri for sole possession of 20th on the NHL’s all-time points list, now with 1,399.

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