“We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately”. That’s what Ben Franklin reportedly said after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Old Ben couldn’t have been thinking about the 2021 NHL Seattle expansion draft, but his words can be taken to heart all these years later for another summer event. Either the existing 30 NHL teams (besides Vegas, the special, protected newcomer) will work with each other, or they will watch Seattle pick them apart.
That’s what happened the last expansion with Vegas four years ago. NHL teams didn’t deal with each other, by and large, they worked with the Golden Knights to try and solve problems.