 Of all the teams rumored to be relocating during this period, only the Penguins would remain in their current city after being sold, to shopping mall magnate (and future San Francisco 49ers owner) Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr.; over time Pittsburgh would become one of the NHL's stronger markets.Meanwhile, the Scouts were on the verge of collapse despite having entered the NHL only two years earlier.Although they suffered a 12-win season in 1975–76, they had fared somewhat better on the ice over their first two years than their expansion cousins, the Washington Capitals.