Unbalanced conferences are a red herring. If they were that fussed about imbalance, they would not have let Columbus switch to the East in 2013. It's something simple that Bettman uses as an excuse to fans and reporters.

The real reason for the Quebec City delay is money: namely, that everyone (up until this year, at least) thought Rogers overpaid for its 12-year, $5.2 billion Canadian TV rights deal. Once that deal is over, the NHL will need to sweeten the pot. So the NHL are saving a Quebec City expansion announcement for the start of Canadian TV negotiations. A new Canadian team means 14% more Canadian games for broadcasters to bid on.