The Utah Hockey Club's first NHL draft approaches, while the Arizona Coyotes' hopes for a new arena within five years have hit another roadblock. Carol Schram explains the situation.

In less than a week, GM Bill Armstrong will take to the podium at the draft for the first time as the GM of the new Utah Hockey Club. 

The franchise may not have a permanent name or logo, but it does have an NHL-sized arena that is ready to host games this fall.

And make no mistake, having some short-term obstructed-view seats in a 17,000-seat venue is a much better scenario than another season in 4,600-seat Mullett Arena. 

Utah will be able to host more fans and generate more revenue immediately. Just like with the permanent team name and logo that are still to be revealed, there’s a plan in place to get the seating issue solved.

Don’t forget, the move to Utah happened at lightning speed, when Gary Bettman became worried about the timing surrounding the Coyotes’ latest arena plan.

Despite the assurances that Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo was going to do everything necessary to win an upcoming auction for a parcel of land in north Phoenix that would be perfect for his new arena and entertainment complex, the NHL got nervous.

The June 27 auction date was too late in the off-season for the NHL to execute a relocation plan if the land wasn't secured — we've seen pre-season schedule dates start to drop this week.

And even if Meruelo won, it would be years before the new building was completed.

That’s what hatched the unique plan to sell the Coyotes’ hockey assets to Ryan and Ashley Smith of Smith Entertainment Group and launch a new team in Utah this fall. In April, the agreement was completed, and on June 13, the transaction closed.

On Friday, Meruelo’s worst-case scenario unfolded. The Arizona State Land Department announced it has cancelled the auction.

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Long story short: the land department has determined that the site is not currently zoned for the type of project that Meruelo has in mind. A special use permit would be required, and the department wants to see that permit approved and in place before the ownership of the land changes hands.

Long story even shorter: as we’ve seen time and time again since the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 relocated to Phoenix in 1996, unexpected red tape has thwarted the plans to build the Coyotes a suitable forever home.

Friday afternoon, the Coyotes issued a statement expressing their disappointment in the situation. Other than saying they felt they'd met all the criteria and would be exploring their legal options, they stopped short of explaining their next steps.

Under the terms of the sale to the Smiths, Meruelo retained the Coyotes’ intellectual property, including the team’s name, logo and records. The franchise is currently "inactive," and Meruelo has an exclusive five-year window to reactivate it, as long as he has an NHL-caliber arena in place.

During this window, Meruelo must hit certain benchmarks to keep his reactivation hopes alive. He also can’t sell a majority interest in the team but can bring in outside investors to a maximum of 20 percent ownership. 

It’s a structure that puts an expiration date on Meruelo’s window to get an arena built. That makes sense, given all the obstacles that have cropped up in the desert over the decades — not just since Meruelo assumed ownership in 2019.

It’s not yet clear what will happen to the Coyotes brand if Meruelo isn't able to reactivate. But while it won’t be icing a team next season, the franchise did not relocate, exists right now and retains its records. 

Shane Doan is the franchise leader in most key categories — games played, goals, assists, points and so on. And if you look a little closer, you’ll be reminded that the records from the original Jets carried over as part of their relocation in 1996.

Dale Hawerchuk remains the franchise’s all-time leader in hat tricks, with 12. And the single-season records in the big categories all date back to Winnipeg: 76 goals and 132 points for Teemu Selanne in 1992-93, 79 assists for Phil Housley that same year — and even 347 penalty minutes for Tie Domi in 1993-94.

If the original Jets and Coyotes had ever won a Stanley Cup, the franchise would retain that record, too. As it stands, the best they have to celebrate was their trip to the Western Conference final as the Phoenix Coyotes in 2012.

By purchasing the Coyotes’ hockey assets, the new Utah franchise will be starting with a core group that has been playing together, plus a prospect pool, a bucket of draft picks and more cap space than any other team in the league. 

They might be better positioned to hit the ground running than a pure expansion NHL team, but the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken showed that a blank slate can have its advantages under the current expansion rules.

It’ll be fascinating to compare the paths of these three Western Conference squads in a few years' time and see which one ended up being more successful.

By then, we'll also know whether the Coyotes have been able to find a way back to full NHL franchise status.

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