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The NHL’s loss of COO John Collins will be most tangible when it comes to the international file, which represents the next genuine growth opportunity for a league already banking a record $4-billion in annual revenues.Richard Drew/The Associated Press

John Collins's departure as the NHL's chief operating officer leaves a void on a number of different fronts, but his loss will be most tangible when it comes to the international file, which represents the next genuine growth opportunity for a league already banking a record $4-billion in annual revenues.

Collins's fingerprints were all over the outdoor games, the new TV deals and many of the bolder initiatives undertaken by the league during his nine years of service. But the NHL is like any business – unless it can grow, it doesn't return value to its investors, namely the 30 owners, which could soon become 31 or 32 with expansion on the horizon.

Even before Collins signed on, the NHL always understood that one of its strength was its international reach. It is one of the most cosmopolitan leagues in the world, drawing players from 30 countries over the course of its history.

Conspicuously, however, China isn't one of the 30.

With its vast population and land mass, China would be a natural market for the product, if the NHL could ever get a toehold there.

The NHL understands this. It's one reason why no firm decision has been made about 2018 Olympic participation, even though they're just over two years out now. The next Winter Games in South Korea present a decent window for exposure in Asia but four years later, when the Olympics land in China, they would represent a massive marketing opportunity.

As the host nation, China will have a men's hockey team entered in the 2022 Olympic tournament; and you can be sure the goal in the next seven years is to ice a competitive team.

To that end, China has already reached out to the NHL, looking to tap into its expertise in order to accelerate growth there.

Just this past June, Andong Song – who moved to Oakville, Ont., with his family at the age of 10 – became the first Chinese-born player drafted by the NHL, when the New York Islanders selected him in the sixth round. That's a start. Where it ends will be fascinating.

In a perfect world, the NHL would prefer to skip South Korea but go to China and hope that in the interim, the coming World Cup is a smashing success; and becomes the go-to event for best-on-best competition.

The World Cup, an event that Collins babysat from start to finish, was designed to reflect hockey's great diversity. Rather than shut out some of the smaller nations that cannot ice a full competitive team, the NHL created a Team Europe that will draw on players from outside the Big 6 – Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic – and on paper, is talented enough to pose a threat.

Best of all, because the World Cup is a joint NHL-NHLPA production, all revenues will accrue to those two organizations. There will be no messy rights fees to pay, or any need to deal with the likes of the International Olympic Committee, which doesn't like to share anything with anyone.

Once the World Cup concept was launched, Collins had turned his attention to a new concept – taking the all-star game abroad to London, England, and shifting it to a Ryder Cup format, which would pit European players against North Americans. This is a riff on a concept they tried once before and didn't get much traction, at least not on this side of the ocean.

Collins's strength was always his salesmanship – and he believed he could genuinely convince players to take the competition seriously if it were framed as a Ryder Cup type of event.

Collins didn't say much in a boilerplate statement that accompanied the news of his departure, though it is noteworthy that the chance of being COO of the NHL during its 100th anniversary season – just two years away – wasn't enough of an incentive for him to stay on.

His new sports-marketing venture is set to launch next Monday, after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over.

In the meantime, with Collins leaving, his workload will be divided among a handful of lieutenants in the New York and Toronto offices, the staff that had previously been charged with the hands-on duties of implementing his big-picture plans.

Within that group, there are some legitimate internal candidates to replace Collins. In all probability, however, a search committee – probably under the auspices of the NHL's executive committee – will set out to recruit another high-profile candidate to fill the job. Marketing those upcoming 100th anniversary celebrations will make it an especially attractive position to anyone who cares about hockey, played at its highest levels.

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