You knew they wouldn't stay away for long.
When adidas (we have to de-capitalize the "a," for that's proper branding) assumed the NHL's uniform rights two years ago – dragging the nightmare that is Fanatics along with it – we learned that teams would not have alternate sweaters for 2017-18.
It appears as though the third-jersey-less days for NHL clubs are coming to an end.
Of course, it's all about money. And a "new" jersey means more sales, more revenue, and so on.
Rumors have swirled for a while that alternate jerseys would indeed return for 2018-19, but now we have some additional smoke. Sharp-eyed Reddit user humanpizza has an image from this year's adidas catalog, which shows 19 NHL teams lined up for third jerseys this upcoming season.
H/T to MrLomax in the Blue Jackets' subreddit for this find:
We'll find out soon enough whether the Blue Jackets are bringing back their previous third jersey (seen in the header image) under adidas branding or going with an all-new design – but this is our strongest hint yet that another sweater is on its way.
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