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Massive $300M Investment Paves Way for Team Relocation to Canada in 2026

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 30, 2025 12:42 PM ET

Hockey has seemed destined to return to Hamilton, Ontario in recent years, and now a new report from Frank Seravalli reveals which AHL team will be relocated there.

After the departure of the Ontario Hockey League from Hamilton, Ontario, the expectation has been that a team will one day return to the city, but until this point, no one has quite known where that team will come from.

In his latest report however, NHL Insider Frank Seravalli has revealed future plans for the city, with a shock revelation that an AHL team could relocate from the United States to Hamilton.

According to Seravalli, discussions have begun over the Bridgeport Islanders departing the United States to come to Hamilton on the back of a $300 million renovation of the TD Coliseum, which will see world class hockey return to the city again.

In his report, Seravalli noted that discussions have not yet become an agreement, but things are trending that way, and if that's ultimately the way things play out, this change will happen after the upcoming 2025/26 campaign.

Between 2015 and 2023, the Hamilton Bulldogs called the city home in the Ontario Hockey League, before departing to Brantford, where they will now remain for the foreseeable future after being purchased by Zach Hyman and his family, and after that short time without a top flight team, hockey is set to return to Hamilton.

It's unclear when a deal will get done and why Bridgeport are the ones looking to make their way north of the border, but behind this push to return hockey to Hamilton and the massive renovation of their arena, it's safe to say that fans will be thrilled to see the return to the city.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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