The reality of the 31st NHL team is now upon us, with the Vegas Golden Knights set to take real shape this week with the expansion draft on Wednesday and first round of the entry draft in Chicago on Friday night. It’s the first time the NHL has expanded in 17 years, which doesn’t really explain why it’s doing so now, other than the $500 million the other 30 teams get to split among themselves.

Understand this: None of this will make the NHL better to watch for you, the fan. It’ll make it a shade worse, as talent is spread a little thinner.

The NHL has always been about adding teams and telling you it’s making itself better by “growing the game,” and its promotional arm has become much adept at generating that message in recent years. Twinning the arrival of Vegas this week with “exciting” new Adidas team jerseys — more merchandise to sell! — shows the skilful way the league packages revenue-enhancing manoeuvres as progress these days.

-Damien Cox of the Toronto Star where you can continue reading.