LAS VEGAS — On the surface, nothing about Las Vegas screams hockeytown.

However, talk has swirled for months about an NHL expansion franchise finding a home in the hard-partying desert oasis. Along the I-15 highway leading into the city, multiple billboards have been erected heralding the town’s bid for a team. And with the 2015 NHL Awards taking place at the MGM Grand Wednesday night, there’s never been a better time to ask some of the game’s biggest stars: Is Vegas the right place for the NHL to expand into?

“I think if you talk to the players, they would love to come to Vegas a couple times a year,” Winnipeg Jets winger Andrew Ladd said. “But further to that, I think the more jobs for players the better for us.”

While an expansion franchise — or two — would create additional roster spots, there remains a debate over whether it is good business for the NHL to become the first major professional sports league to place a team in Sin City.

That’s really the crux of the Vegas debate — is it the best move for the NHL’s business? Among the league’s general managers, meeting Tuesday in Vegas, it’s bound to be a hot topic of conversation. Players don’t pretend to be experts on the details, but they do hope the NHL will do what’s in everyone’s interest long term.

“There is a lot of hype around a potential hockey organization coming to Vegas,” Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews said. “I don’t know the ins and outs of what it takes to make an organization thrive, especially in a non-traditional hockey market. I hope at the end of the day we (look at) examples of success (and failure) in similar markets and learn from that and make the right decision.

“As a hockey player you love to go on the road, you love to go to exciting cities, so at the end of the day, if it’s a potentially successful hockey market, then (great). What makes the game grow, and that’s going to last and be successful in the long term (is what we want).”

Unsurprisingly for players who spend most of the year stationed inside ice-cold arenas often located in frigid cities, the possibility of having another warm-weather destination on the itinerary is certainly a perk.

“It’s nice to get away from -50 once in a while,” Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price said. “(Vegas) is just kind of a glamour city. Its got components you don’t see in other cities. You could see a lot of hockey fans coming here just because it’s Vegas and then to take in a hockey game too.”

So while players may be all for the nice weather and favorable atmosphere Vegas has to offer, the NHL has to proceed cautiously. Team in southern cities such as Phoenix and South Florida have struggled to maintain attendance, and then there were the Atlanta Thrashers, who bolted to Winnipeg after an 11-season run in Georgia.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is scheduled to meet the media Wednesday afternoon before the Awards ceremony starts, and he’s expected to address the Las Vegas issue. It’s a topic that won’t fade until a decision is made, but regardless of the outcome and the fuss around it, the No. 1 priority for the players is unchanged.

“I mean, it depends (if a team could be successful in Vegas),” said Ladd. “At the end of the day, players like to win hockey games. That’s the biggest motivating factor for us. That’s what (really) makes us go home happy.”