from Dave Caldwell at ESPN,

"Kansas City has never been entirely 'off our radar screen,'" Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, wrote in an email to ESPN.com. "We have talked to potentially interested stakeholders in the past, and it's certainly a market that in the right circumstances (including a desire by our board to entertain further expansion) our league would fairly evaluate and consider.

"In evaluating potential locations for NHL teams, we typically look at three things: One, whether the market has or is building a suitable arena facility; two, the demographics of the market and whether they suggest an ability to support an NHL franchise; and, three, whether there is qualified and interested ownership to own and operate the franchise.

"While the Sprint Center certainly checks off the first of those boxes, the other two issues remain a work in progress.

"We opened a formal expansion process in June of 2015 and we did not receive an application for a Kansas City franchise. Further, we have never studied whether the market demographics of Kansas City are likely to be suitable for an NHL franchise long-term because there has not yet been a need to do so."

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