Nobody saw it coming. In the weeks and months leading up to the NHL’s new rights agreement with Turner Sports, formally announced yesterday, Turner was rarely mentioned in speculative articles about the NHL, or was only given a cursory mention and categorized as a long shot bidder. Turner had lost rights to the PGA Championship and UEFA Champions League, and had steadily been downsizing Bleacher Report, while many within the industry thinking the digital operation would eventually be sold off. With no historical tie to hockey or the NHL, the idea that Turner would catapult over Fox, NBC, Amazon, and others just didn’t seem realistic. And yet, here we are.