Coyotes relocating to Salt Lake City

[Pengwin7]

Looking at the NHL Constitution, as well as past relocations and sale, and news reports. My understanding is as follows:

1. Sale of a team requires approval from 3/4s of Board of Governors
2. Relocation requires an application. that application is due on January 1st the season before relocation is to occur (so missed deadline for next season) unless the Board of Governors approves a later date
.....
4. Assuming for the sake of argument that the Native lands arena deal is also dead, and a relocation of the Coyotes is inevitable each party likekly looks at it as follows:
a. Coyotes owner – probably wants out. The 5k seat arena is not a long-term plan. Further, he likely does not want to own the team in another City, get out and get what you can for it.
b. New potential purchaser (whether SLC, Houston, KC) only willing to buy if it can relocate the team to desired City.
c. Other owners – presumably want to move the team out of Arizona given the 5k arena and no alternative plan in place. Individual teams would protect their territory but no territory invading option is seriously being offered.
d. NHLPA- (does not get a vote) probably not opposed to relocation in a general sense. Arizona is hurting HRR (and thus the cap and escrow) and I doubt the players love Mullet arena. Some individual Coyote players may like it but overall a move is good for the NHLPA.
.

Holy cow.
Amazing post & information!!! [REP]


So - in short terms, is Arizona locked-in to Arizona for 2023-24?
(Atlanta somehow was sold and bolted in the summer of 2011... maybe they had applied for "relocation" - or maybe that wasn't a thing in 2011)
(Assuming Meruelo had some foresight... he should've applied. Smart people walk through all possible options - and one was that this May vote, which was schedule in fall 2022, wouldn't pass for them.)

Thanks LawMan!!!

[2014olympicgold]

That application on January 1st of that yr to move the team was a thing in 2011.

Maybe the NHL kinda waived that for them though.

[Pengwin7]

Yeah... I would have to think - at this point - Bettman & Board-of-Governers & Owners would all say "There's no good future in Arizona without an arena available."
They might as well leave (be sold) immediately, if there is a quality arena in major market ready to go.

(I haven't done the reading - but the vibe is that Houston & Kansas City are ready - and as Western cities - those would work well for NHL divisional layout.)

I can't see Zona playing another season in Mullett Arena (5000 seating) being good for ANYBODY in the NHL.
For clarity - until a sale officially happens - all things are still "The Coyotes are Arizona's team".
So the team gets to say "We are playing in Mullett Arena".
And Bill Daly will say "We are playing in Mullett Arena".
But when Gary Bettman does NOT say "The Coyotes will be in Arizona in 2023-24"... that's the key one there.

This pretty much feels like a break-up.
And another season in Mullett Arena is like the girlfriend saying "I know I promised we'd be together through high school - so I'll go to prom with you, but nothing's gonna happen, and we are formally broken up the day high school ends."
Like... if you are a guy with any balls you should say "Let's just be done now."


I feel like this is going to be done this summer.
If both have arena ready to offer,
The Houston vs. Kansas City will come down to simply which has stronger ownership group.

[2014olympicgold]

I can see a guy like Ryan Smith paying out Arizona St. to break their lease. It's not hard thing to do. And I don't think the buyout would be large in comparison to how much would be spent overall. Plus Arizona St got to have a $20m reno paid for by someone else.

As for the season tickets comment about 2023-24...money can be loud enough to change that plan.

[Axeman33]

I havent read this whole thread but one thing I will say is, there's no way in hell that Gary Bettman will bring another team to Canada. Not a chance in hell.

[2014olympicgold]

I havent read this whole thread but one thing I will say is, there's no way in hell that Gary Bettman will bring another team to Canada. Not a chance in hell.

I dunno. If expansion happens, they'll expand in groups of 2 again similar to Vegas/Seattle. But that means 34 teams (17/17) and 36 (18/18) is just more symmetrical. I can see Canada being one of the next 4 teams to also even out the Canadian teams to 8 total, and it being Quebec to even out the East/West Canadian market to 4 and 4.

But I could be thinking too clearly and Bettman doesn't seem to do that often when they talk about expanding the game. And adding a team in Quebec City isn't expanding the game. There's like half the league in the North Eastern portion of the USA/Canadian border, that's not expanding the game. But it's a safe bet for making money.

[Pengwin7]

re: Canada.
I think... for Bettman... it's dangerous to "open the door"... even a crack.
As soon as he says he's considering it - the entire world of Quebec (& maybe Canada) would tear him apart if the Canadian (QC, likely) option isn't selected.

Realistically - if the ownership, arena, and financial support is solid - I think Canada would get a team.
But I agree that we'll never hear about it from Bettman in advance.
It will never be tabled again publicly as an "option".

If we hear about a Canadian city (maybe) "getting an NHL team" from Bettman... I think that'll mean it's a near certainty.


To speculate - I will say that the lower dollar "relocation" option is Canada's best chance. i.e. Atlanta shifting to Winnipeg.
For expansion dollars... boy... the NHL owners (mostly American) are going to want those American bucks!!!

[I have long, long, long been rooting for Florida to fail... because I think that could've/would've been great relocation option. But, damn those Panthers, hauling in playoff gate receipts... they won't be moving now... though they do/did have a 2023 arena lease break option... I was ready to revive Pengwin's Conspiracy Theory thread on Florida... and then they beat Boston... and then Toronto... ugh.]

[LawMan]

That application on January 1st of that yr to move the team was a thing in 2011.

Maybe the NHL kinda waived that for them though.

The NHL did waive the January 1st deadline for ATL--> WPG
The rules were the same in 2011: the application is/was "required" by January 1st... unless the Board of Governors voted to move the application date to a later date, which itdid for ATL--> WPG.
and which they could again for ARZ --> anywhere.

So the date is a requirement, unless waive. Essentially they put the "preferred" date, which would give full time to dissect etc. but it can be waived if necessary.

[Axeman33]

I dunno. If expansion happens, they'll expand in groups of 2 again similar to Vegas/Seattle. But that means 34 teams (17/17) and 36 (18/18) is just more symmetrical. I can see Canada being one of the next 4 teams to also even out the Canadian teams to 8 total, and it being Quebec to even out the East/West Canadian market to 4 and 4.

But I could be thinking too clearly and Bettman doesn't seem to do that often when they talk about expanding the game. And adding a team in Quebec City isn't expanding the game. There's like half the league in the North Eastern portion of the USA/Canadian border, that's not expanding the game. But it's a safe bet for making money.

Lets just say I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, it's like ghosts to me.

[2014olympicgold]

Coyotes are looking into Mesa Arizona as their next home at the Fiesta Mall site (a mall that has closed a while ago).

I guess that's like kinda being told you can't build in the Scarborough area and try to build in the Etobicoke area for GTA residents.

[Pengwin7]

Mesa!
Mercy... at this point it just feels like scrambling and throwing statements out there that are basically "We are still trying... really... we are... how 'bout this?"
(And fans are, by the minute, putting their heads down and going "It's over".)

Oh man - I really feel for the die-hard hockey fans in Phoenix area.
Not their fault. I feel you guys. Atlanta felt just like this. Like the owners just didn't have it in them to make it work.
By the end it was like "Yep... yep... just go..."

[kovalchuk17]

Patrick Mahomes endorsing the Kansas City Coyotes on Twitter is all I need haha

GO KC GO! lol

[2014olympicgold]

Mesa!
Mercy... at this point it just feels like scrambling and throwing statements out there that are basically "We are still trying... really... we are... how 'bout this?"
(And fans are, by the minute, putting their heads down and going "It's over".)

Oh man - I really feel for the die-hard hockey fans in Phoenix area.
Not their fault. I feel you guys. Atlanta felt just like this. Like the owners just didn't have it in them to make it work.
By the end it was like "Yep... yep... just go..."

It's a 15min drive down the road this new site lol. It's such a fake attempt. It' s not going to get far down the planning route.

[2014olympicgold]

Coyotes twitter got hacked (im assuming)

"Pack, if this tweet gets 20k likes by the end of the day we will leak our new arena plans"

[ericdaoust]

Maybe they became self-aware and turned themselves into a parody account