In what year did the NHL expand to 30 teams?

The NHL expanded to 30 teams in 2000, when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets joined for the 2000–01 season. Their arrival followed a decade of rapid league growth and completed the NHL’s planned expansion to 30 franchises.

The two clubs were created through the 2000 expansion process. An expansion draft was held on June 23, 2000, in Calgary, allowing the new teams to select eligible unprotected players from existing clubs. The Blue Jackets entered the Central Division, while the Wild joined the Northwest Division.

The expansion also restored NHL hockey to Minnesota after the North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993. It gave Ohio an NHL team after the Cleveland Barons had merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The NHL remained at 30 teams for 17 seasons.

The league later grew to 31 teams when the Vegas Golden Knights began play in 2017, and to 32 with the Seattle Kraken in 2021. Thus, 2000 identifies the season when the league first reached 30 teams, not merely the year an expansion plan was announced.