While not official just yet, all signs are pointing in the direction that the Arizona Coyotes relocate to Salt Lake City as early as April 18. What do current Coyote players actually think about all of this? According to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, players are ‘not excited’ about a potential move to Salt Lake City. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman threw out the word betrayal in how some players feel about the recent developments regarding relocation and how quickly things escalated. “You could tell the various emotions,” Friedman said. [https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1778766616035029452] “Some people were disappointed, some people were crushed... “There was one person who said it was actually a good thing because at least now we know what our future could be, but there were some people who were furious and they thought the ownership of the Coyotes and the executive level were cowards because they convinced everyone here that is was all about the auction, when at the same time they were working on a deal to send the team to Salt Lake City and still are doing so.” It’s hard to be told one thing about your future and then totally get betrayed and be forced to move from your home, which is exactly what happened to Coyotes players. This impacts more than just their careers, they have families too and these sort of decisions affect them very much. Armstrong Post Trade Deadline (1) Matt Dumba was traded by the Coyotes to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the trade deadline in March, but opened up on what his former teammates are going through. “It’s definitely being felt,” Dumba said via The Athletic. [https://theathletic.com/5408677/2024/04/11/coyotes-players-potential-relocation/] “It’s being felt every day you step into the Mullett (Arena). It’s not easy for those guys. I feel for them. The uncertainty of what’s going to happen ahead — I mean, it can just linger, you know? When stuff doesn’t go good, it’s a little more prevalent. “It’s a bit of mental warfare for those guys.” Business is business. However, the players are also people with real emotions and relocation unfortunately is a very difficult thing for them especially when many of them chose to be in Arizona.
