Then there's the question of the salary cap. When the NHL last expanded in 2000, there was no hard cap. The cap stands at $71.4 million. By 2017, the cap could be close to $75 million. If Las Vegas was to get full cap space to fill a roster, that could give Las Vegas a competitive edge in signing free agents over teams that are either at the cap limit or over. There's also questions of where an expansion team would be allowed to pick in its first entry draft.

That's why it's taking longer than expected. Bettman has said it was never about just writing a check. But Fehr said the game is healthier financially and the timing appears right for expansion.

"Ultimately, it's up to the NHL whether or not it wants to expand," Fehr said. "Once that decision is made and if it is decided to proceeedd (with expansion), I'm sure there will be a number of issues that will need to be discussed. But I'm pretty sure that whatever issues that come up I hope can be resolved with little problem."

And Carp discusses the possibility of the NHL granting Foley a "conditional franchise" at the Board of Governors' meetings in Nashville on January 30th, but that seems unlikely at this point.