I've lived on both sides of the border, and I've observed something interesting about NHL fans. There are only 8-10 NHL teams with a very strong fan base ... and by "very strong" I mean you could fill an arena with 15,000+ fans in the last weeks of a season even if the team is not a playoff contender. These teams include the Original Six (Montreal, Toronto, New York Rangers, Boston, Detroit and Chicago), plus Edmonton and Philadelphia -- and maybe Buffalo and Calgary now as well.
This is really apparent when you get north of the border and visit a place like Vancouver, and find that almost everyone you meet is either a Toronto or Montreal fan. The rest of the NHL's teams have fair-weather fans who will support their local team passionately, but only if the team is winning.
One of the problems the NHL has had in the last 25 years is that they've expanded the league to get national coverage for TV contracts, but in doing so they've put teams in places that have absolutely no historical or cultural ties to hockey. These are the markets where the teams tend to struggle when they have to rebuild after they've had winning seasons.
The article linked below from just two years ago lists EIGHT potential candidates for relocation among NHL teams. The list includes the following:
Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
Florida Panthers
Arizona Coyotes
Carolina Hurricanes
The two anomalies in this list are the Islanders and the Devils. They are unique in that they are the second and third NHL teams in one metro area. The Islanders would probably come off this list right now, since they are a hot team and they will be moving to a new arena on Long Island in the next couple of years after playing in an arena in Brooklyn, NY that was totally unsuitable for hockey.
The rest of those teams all have something in common: they were expansion teams or relocated from other cities since the mid-1990s. In other words, the cities where they play were probably never strong hockey markets in the first place.
One correction, not,”maybe Buffalo now” always Buffalo the whole time. We have a very strong and loyal fan base.
The idea that the teams you mention have fan bases that will put up with losing is being torpedoed this season. Already hockey headlines are noticing that we had a day where NONE of the Canadian teams sold out except for the Leafs. The Leafs lost their sellout streak the season before Matthews was drafted. The Rangers are having troubles selling out and the Leafs ticket market is soft even though they are still selling at face value. Detroit, Philly and Montreal are all mentioned in sports business columns for having ticket selling problems.
The teams listed for relocation is a laughable especially because the author thinks most of them should be relocated to Canada. Nashville is solid both in ownership and fanbase. Columbus isn’t going anywhere soon. The Devils , Carolina and Arizona have new ownership and/or arena deals. I think Arizona is the weakest team and would make a good relocation target for Houston but that won’t happen until the new owner explores his options.
“I’ve observed in the NHL over the last 30+ years.”
I did want to say I’m glad the NHL is attracting new fans!