The Coyotes' relocation to Salt Lake City could be imminent as the NHL is hoping to speed up the process.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun the NHL is continuing to work on a deal that will send the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City and the hope is that it is able to be finalized by the end of the week, before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.
The Coyotes are set to play their final home game on April 17 and PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reported that an official deal could be announced as early as that day.
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong informed the team on Friday that these Salt Lake City relocation rumors are indeed real.
According to an ESPN report, there could be two layers at stake here regarding the Coyotes’ transition from Arizona to Salt Lake City.
The NHL would purchase the Coyotes from Arizona’s owner Alex Meruelo for a deal worth around $1 billion and then the league will sell the Coyotes to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith for as high as $1.3 billion.
Meruelo has made one public statement since all of this news broke out and the Coyotes X account has been radio silent, leading to some inclinations that relocation could be imminent.
Despite likely relocating the team to Salt Lake City, Meruelo is still committed to winning an auction for land in northeast Phoenix on June 27 with the intention of building an arena and bringing hockey back to Arizona in the near future through possible expansion.