Bettman to meet with Quebec premier to discuss potential Nordiques return

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is set to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to discuss the possibility of bringing the defunct Nordiques back to Quebec City.

"I’ve spoken with Bettman already, and there are meetings that are planned during the coming months," Legault said Thursday on RDS' Le 5 à 7, as translated by theScore.

"You have to look to know who is ready to invest. We have an (arena) already built in Quebec (City), and we are in contact with commissioner Gary Bettman to find out what we need to bring back the Nordiques."

Quebec City's Videotron Centre is an 18,259-seat arena that opened in 2015. It's the seventh-largest indoor arena in Canada and the largest that doesn't house an NHL team. The QMJHL's Quebec Remparts are currently the primary tenant.

The Quebec Nordiques were an NHL team from 1979-95 before relocating to Colorado and becoming the Avalanche.

The NHL has expanded from 30 teams to 32 over the last few years with the additions of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. No further expansion plans are publicly known.

There has been much speculation about the Arizona Coyotes' future in the desert, especially after the city of Glendale informed the team in August that the 2021-22 campaign will be its last at Gila River Arena. But team president Xavier Gutierrez said at the time the franchise is "100% committed to finding a long-term arena solution here in Arizona."

The Coyotes submitted a bid in September to build an arena in nearby Tempe, Arizona, but their plans for the 2022-23 season are unknown.