NHL Preparing for Commissioner's Eventual Retirement

The NHL has been led by Gary Bettman for more than three decades since he was appointed as the Commissioner of the league in 1993. The 72-year-old executive has shepherded the game of hockey through multiple lockouts and sweeping changes to the sport on a national and international level.

But the NHL knows that Bettman won't be the commissioner forever, and they are already beginning to take steps to prepare for that eventual reality. Michael Russo and Chris Johnston of The Athletic recently spoke with Bettman about that possibility and learned that it was the commissioner himself who brought this up in a recent meeting with the Board of Governors.

"I raised the specter that at some point this is something the league is going to have to deal with because when you’re dealing with a CEO who has been doing this as long as I have, it’s a more complicated process,” Bettman said. “But the only discussion that was had was with three-plus decades at this job, at some point the league is going to have to deal with the reality that I can’t do this forever."

Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is one of the owners on the Board of Governors' executive committee, the group that will deal with replacing Bettman when the time comes. The outspoken owner of the Wild chimed in on impossible task that faces them down the road.

“Listen, we’re like a $5, $6 billion company — the entire league is,” he said. “So we have a CEO who’s going to be moving on and any transition would cause us to be concerned. And so, really, all I was saying is that we have had a commissioner now for 30 years, maybe a little more, and he has been outstanding. I mean, truly, truly, has been an incredible commissioner and has done great things."

The good news for the Board of Governors and the rest of the NHL is that Bettman's retirement is far from imminent. Bettman reiterated that his heart is still in the role and he's not planning on leaving anytime soon.

"When you don’t have the energy and the passion you have to think about it," he said. "The good news is I have the energy and I have the passion. I love what I do, and actually I enjoy doing what I’m doing probably more than I ever would enjoy retirement."