The Arizona Coyotes, a beleaguered franchise that began in 1996, may be moving to Utah. The team's potential move comes after the NHL prepared two different schedules, one with the team in Arizona and another with the team in Utah. This decision follows the Coyotes' release of images for a new arena outside of Phoenix. ESPN provides insight into the team's past, present, and future.
owner Ryan Smith acquiring the beleaguered franchise, which began its run in the desert back in 1996 following relocation from Winnipeg.
Smith said in January he didn't care how he acquired the team, saying:"Our goal is NHL in Utah. And I'll leave the rest up to Gary." But an NHL source told ESPN that Smith's preference was to have an expansion team in Utah -- and along with it, the chance to build one through an expansion draft. One way to satisfy Meruelo was to give him around $1 billion in the transaction. But Meruelo still wanted to own an NHL team in Arizona and still planned on building an arena for one. So the NHL had to find a creative way to keep the door open for Meruelo in Arizona while moving the current incarnation of the Coyotes.in north Phoenix, where he intends to build an arena, a practice facility, a theater, housing units and retail. The auction for that land is set for June 27.
If the project is completed, the NHL can return to a market where it clearly wants to have a team -- witness the constant fights to"save" the Coyotes since their bankruptcy in 2009 -- and have a state-of-the-art arena ready for an expansion team. If the project doesn't come to pass, Meruelo walks away with $1 billion for having let the Coyotes move to Utah.
The club also signed assistant coach Mario Duhamel and goaltending coach Corey Schwab to multiyear extensions just days after announcing Tourigny's new deal. "Obviously, selfishly, growing up there with them was a big part of me getting into hockey," Matthews said Thursday."I'd love for them to figure it out, but you kind of understand the position the NHL's in as well."is another one of the few Arizona-bred players in the NHL, and expressed his disappointment last week about the Coyotes potentially moving elsewhere.
Smith, who is also a co-owner of Real Salt Lake in MLS and the Utah Royals in the NWSL, took to social media on April 8 asking,"If an NHL team were to come to Utah, what should we name it?" The question was then followed by a link to a survey.Smith's post on X generated more than 3 million views and over 1,000 responses. Some of the proposed team names were serious suggestions, while others were a bit more sardonic.
However, as ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported, sources have said the NHL told the Smiths there are hockey-specific upgrades needed at Delta Center if it were to become the team's permanent home.The venue has hosted preseason NHL games in each of the past four seasons -- primarily between L.A. and Vegas -- but the current layout would limit sightlines for NHL games and prohibit the Smiths from selling the arena to 18,206-seat capacity .
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