NHL wants Coyotes move to Salt Lake City settled before playoffs
Published
The National Hockey League wants to have the Arizona Coyotes’ relocation to Salt Lake City settled before the playoffs begin this weekend, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports.
LeBrun notes that there's no guarantee the deal will be finalized by the end of this week due to its complicated nature, though that is the league's hope.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that the Coyotes will likely be sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith shortly after the team's final game on Wednesday, and that the deal will include a provision guaranteeing current owner Alex Meruelo an expansion team in Arizona if a new arena is built within five years.
The Coyotes will host the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday in what is expected to be their final game in Arizona.
Noise around a potential move started to build early last week, though the Coyotes managed to pick up overtime wins over both the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. Their two-game winning streak came to an end Sunday in a 6-5 loss to the Calgary Flames.
“There’s lots of stuff going on around the league with every team," forward Alex Kerfoot said when asked about the outside noise post-game. "There’s always distractions, always stuff that’s going on in peoples’ minds. This is no different.”