The Coyotes could move to Salt Lake City as part of the NHL plan

The NHL is preparing for an emergency that could move the Arizona Coyotes to Utah as soon as next season, sources told ESPN.

Although the NHL remains convinced of the necessity of a franchise in Arizona, the league is questioning the Coyotes' latest plan to build an arena in Phoenix, which included Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo's attempt to win a land auction in June.

The NHL has prepared a back-up option to sell the team to Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the NBA's Utah Jazz, in a move to Salt Lake City, multiple sources said.

That shadow plan involves the NHL preparing two schedules for next season: one that includes the Coyotes in Arizona and another for the team in Utah, as the Daily Faceoff first reported on Wednesday.

Sources told ESPN that a transfer announcement could come as soon as this month.

Multiple sources in the NHL cautioned that the situation is fluid. Although it is common practice for the NHL to come up with contingencies in a situation with a great deal of uncertainty, it is not a done deal.

The transfer would need approval by the NHL Board of Governors, which is next scheduled to meet in June. The Board can also hold a meeting at any time beforehand via Zoom.

The Coyotes told ESPN they have no comment on reports that the team may move to Salt Lake City starting next season. The NHL also had no comment.

Coyotes players are following developments through media reports.

“We don't know anything at all and haven't heard anything,” one player told ESPN on Wednesday.

The Coyotes have played their home games at Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat facility on Arizona State's campus, since the 2022-23 season as they sought to build a new NHL-sized arena. According to Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez, their contract with ASU is for three years plus two one-year options that could take them through the 2026-27 season.

A league source told ESPN that the Coyotes' transfer could involve two separate transactions.

The NHL will purchase the Coyotes from Meruelo in a deal believed to be worth around $1 billion. This will be the second time the NHL has owned a Coyotes team, having purchased the franchise from owner Jerry Moyes in 2009 after he filed for bankruptcy. The league owned and operated the Coyotes until 2013.

After purchasing the team, the NHL would then sell the Coyotes to Smith for a price that could reach $1.3 billion — far higher than the $650 million expansion fee the Seattle Kraken owners paid in 2021 to join, the league source said. League. The NHL's other 31 owners will split $300 million as part of the sale, the source said.

“The NHL has a deep-pocketed owner who wants the team so badly they want to be part of the family,” an NHL insider told ESPN.

There is a possibility that, as part of the deal, Meruelo could be the first to purchase an NHL expansion team if the league decides to return to Arizona, according to sources. The Phoenix area was a desirable area for the league as a television market and due to its proximity to other US-based Western Conference teams. The region has also reported growth in youth hockey. Several Arizona-born players are now thriving in the NHL, including Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.

While NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has confirmed that the league is not looking to expand or relocate teams, the NHL has received overtures from several markets seeking to join the league. Chief among them is Salt Lake City, and sources say Pittman and Smith have built a relationship of trust over the past several years.

“Utah's expression of interest was the most aggressive and brought a lot of energy with it,” Bettman said at the NHL All-Star Game.

In January, Smith Entertainment Group formally asked the NHL to begin an expansion process and bring a team to Salt Lake City. This week, Smith took to X, asking for name suggestions for a potential NHL franchise.

Smith told ESPN in January that he didn't care how he got the team, saying, “Our goal is the NHL in Utah. I'll leave the rest to Gary.”

The relocation plan, according to sources, would be for Utah to play out of the Delta Center, which Smith owns and is also home to the Jazz. The Delta Center has hosted NHL exhibition games five times, with another scheduled for next fall.

However, sources told ESPN that NHL leadership made it clear to Smith that they would need hockey-specific renovations for Delta Center to be a permanent home for the NHL, similar to the Kraken owners' renovations at Key Arena prior to the team's arrival. Smith is willing to help develop that.

“Utah is what I would call business-friendly,” Smith told ESPN in January. “I think that's what helped us create a technology ecosystem.”

Smith is already receiving support from government leaders. A bill supporting an NHL arena and entertainment district in downtown Salt Lake City has been advanced through the Utah State Senate and received the governor's approval, but has not yet passed. The bill includes a 0.5% sales tax increase to help with financing. This increase will take effect by January 1.

The NHL's decision to develop two schedules comes while the Coyotes are in the midst of their latest plan to secure a new arena.

The Coyotes had been searching for a permanent home since their previous owner filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The team appeared to have a stable footing in Gila River Arena then, but the city of Glendale backed out of a multimillion-dollar lease agreement in 2009. 2015. Coyotes hire Gila River Arena on an annual basis before the city terminates the lease after the 2021-22 season.

The team moved to Mullett Arena while searching for an arena solution in Tempe. The Coyotes thought they would have a 16,000-seat arena in a proposed $2.1 billion entertainment district, but voters rejected that plan in May 2023.

The latest plan will not require a public vote. In March, the Arizona Department of Lands Board of Appeals unanimously approved a $68.5 million assessment for a 95-acre parcel of land in north Phoenix. The auction for that land is scheduled for June 27.

If the Coyotes win the auction, Gutierrez said the team intends to begin construction in the second quarter of 2025, adding, “Hopefully we'll drop the puck in the fall of 2027.” This is the same timeline the team established for the arena project in Tempe, he said.

The last NHL relocation was when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg in 2011. The move was confirmed on May 31, 2011 at a press conference in Winnipeg.