Adidas coming in 2017

Last thing. It doesn't impact this season or next season whatsoever and as of now it's unofficial, but I'm already getting a lot of questions so it's an elephant I need to address.

TSN reported today that the NHL has agreed to a deal that will have Reebok's parent company Adidas taking over jersey design and production for the league and all 30 teams beginning in 2017-18. It seems obvious, but they did beat out Bauer and Under Armour for the contract. Apparently, the agreement will be officially announced next month.

What does this mean? TSN will tell you it paves the way for advertising on NHL jerseys. But that was coming no matter who won the contract. They also suggest it will mean new jerseys for every team with Adidas' trademark three-stripe design. Don't bet on it. Without knowing the terms of the deal, I'm still positive the teams will still be making their own design decisions.

I am curious to see if Adidas will launch its own line of jersey styles, including new templates or if they'll simply build on what Reebok began. I'd bet on the latter for simplicity's sake. However, a great way to convince fans to give you their money is to make their team's existing jerseys obsolete.

That being the case, a new jersey manufacturer is often a good reasons for teams to freshen up their look. Seven teams introduced new logos when Reebok took over in 2007. Down the road, we can talk about what teams should strongly consider that.

That's all I've got for now. Back to my road trip!