Totems Favored as Team Name for New Seattle NHL Franchise

It’s official: professional hockey is coming to Seattle. The NHL board of governors voted Tuesday to approve the expansion application for the NHL Seattle group to bring a team into the league for the 2021-22 season.

The announcement was expected for quite some time as it’s been no secret the league has been actively looking for a home for its 32nd team. When the Seattle club begins play, it will join the Pacific Division, with the Arizona Coyotes moving from the Pacific to the Central Division. Right now there are seven squads in the Central.

Totems projected as the likeliest team name

When it comes to the name for Seattle’s new NHL franchise, Sportsbook has released odds for the occasion. The sportsbook has tabbed Totems as the -105 favorite, with Emeralds (+400), Rainiers (+700), Sockeyes (+700) and Kraken (+700) topping the list.

The team will play at Seattle Center Arena, as the former KeyArena is scheduled to undergo a privately financed $800-million renovation. The arena opened in 1962 and was the home of the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics prior to them relocating to Oklahoma City in 2008.

With two teams in the four major North American pro sports leagues currently in Seattle (the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the MLB's Seattle Mariners), it was a no-brainer for the NHL to bring a team there, especially after the overwhelming success of the most recent expansion franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights. There’s no shortage of interest surrounding hockey in Washington, as a season-ticket deposit drive was held by the potential ownership group on March 1 and secured 32,000 deposits in the first 31 hours.

Which team name do you think best fits the new Seattle NHL franchise? Have your say in the comment section.