03/10/2021 The NHL on NBC package expires after the 2021 season, and a new report suggests that it is not going to return in its current form, with a significant portion of the league’s national rights instead going to ESPN. The possibility of a larger NHL presence on ESPN (they currently stream some games on ESPN+) has been discussed for quite a while, including in a piece we penned in February 2018, and the odds there have seemed to rise recently with the Worldwide Leader making plentyofoverturestowards the NHL in recent years and helping to remove some of the stain of comments like “it doesn’t translate to television, and where it really doesn’t transfer much to is a national discussion” (from then-SVP Vince Doria in 2012; Doria retired in 2015). And now, it appears that ESPN is getting even a larger percentage of the NHL’s rights than many had speculated, with a report from Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston indicating that this is expected to even give four Stanley Cup Finals to ESPN (those may or may not be simulcast on ABC as well; no indication on that yet). Here’s more on the ESPN-NHL deal from Johnston’s piece: