from Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside of ESPN,

The NHL is nearing an expansion decision, commissioner Gary Bettman announced Monday before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals.

"I'm not going to handicap what is going to happen," Bettman said during his state of the union news conference. "But when the board (the NHL Board of Governors) meets in Las Vegas on June 22, I am fairly certain we will know more than we do today."

Before that, the NHL's executive committee of owners, a smaller more powerful group, will finally provide its recommendation within the next two weeks ahead of the full Board of Governors meeting.

"We'll all know more after the executive committee makes a recommendation," said Bettman. "I have no doubt that recommendation will probably get leaked in advance of the board meeting. There will be plenty of time to speculate."

Bettman stressed the same options remain on the table: no expansion at all; expansion deferred; or expansion to Las Vegas and/or Quebec City.

Expansion requires a two-thirds majority vote from the 30 owners.

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