The NHL is allowing a potential Las Vegas owner to gauge interest in the market. (USATSI)
The NHL is allowing a potential Las Vegas owner to gauge interest in the market. (USATSI)

At the NHL's Board of Governors meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday, commissioner Gary Bettman said that league is going to allow a potential owner to gauge the interest for an expansion team in Las Vegas.

Along with that, Bettman also offered an update on the status of the 2015-16 salary cap, but it was the expansion news that seemed to steal the show.

While Bettman said that there was no official update on expansion during Monday's meeting and that no formal expansion process has started, he did say that there is significant interest from Las Vegas and that it has generated discussion within the league. The prospective owner of a Las Vegas franchise, William Foley, even approached the league asking to run a season-ticket drive to explore interest in the market. The NHL has given him the green light to do just that.

NHL expansion has been a hot topic around the league in recent months. Seattle and Quebec City have also been discussed as potential destinations.

Bettman said that if the Las Vegas ticket drive goes well, the league will then explore the next step.

When it comes to the salary cap, Bettman said the early projection for next season as of this moment is $73 million, which would be a $4 million increase over the $69 million cap in place for 2014-15. There has been some concern that the cap has not gone up as much as initially expected, but Bettman also added that the projection depends greatly on the value of the Canadian dollar not going down any further.

The initial projection is definitely good news for large market and higher payroll teams, specifically Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston and Minnesota, all of which have significant contracts heading into the future.