*Photo from RMNB*
Arizona no longer. According to reports from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and PHNX Sports, Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong met with the team and told the players that the team will be relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah.
The NHL has reportedly facilitated a sale of the team, with current owner Alex Meruelo selling the team to Ryan and Ashley Smith, the current owners of the NBA's Utah Jazz. With the sale comes a relocation to Utah, with an official announcement coming as soon as next week. Armstrong informed the players of the move prior to Friday's game against the Edmonton Oilers, a game the Coyotes won 3-2 in overtime.
News came out on Wednesday that the NHL was reportedly working on two versions of the 2024-2025 schedule, one with the Coyotes remaining in Arizona and another with the team in Utah, the first real hint of relocation. The players and staff of the team have reportedly been invited to Salt Lake City to tour the facilities.
Delta Center, the current home of the Jazz, is where the Coyotes are set to play next season. The Utah State Senate has already passed a bill to fund a downtown entertainment district in Salt Lake City for an NHL franchise, with Governor Spencer Cox already having approved the bill.
The Coyotes became a franchise in 1996 when the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix. The Coyotes have had plenty of arena changes in their venture to Arizona, having played at America West Arena in Phoenix, Gila River Arena in Glendale, and now Mullett Arena in Tempe on a short term deal as they continued pursuing the construction of a permanent arena in Arizona.
Most recently, the Coyotes tried to secure a new arena in Tempe, but residents voted against the new entertainment district that included an arena for the Coyotes in a special election. Forbes ranked the Coyotes as the least valuable franchise in the NHL in December 2022.
The Coyotes announced in early April their intent to win the auction for a 110 acre piece of land in north Phoenix, which would be used for a new arena and entertainment district for the franchise. The auction won't take place until June 27, at which point it would be a ticking clock to relocate the team in a hurry if they don't win the auction. Thus, the NHL decided to expedite the relocation process.
Relocation cannot officially be approved until the next NHL board of governor's meeting, currently scheduled for June. A meeting could be convened before that virtually, where the move could then be approved.
According to ESPN's Emily Kaplan, the NHL is reportedly interested in returning to Arizona in the future should the league further expand. They would also reportedly be open to Meruelo to own that franchise.
There are 19 defunct and relocated franchises in NHL history. Between 1990 and 2000, the Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas to become the Dallas Stars in 1993, the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche, the Jets relocated to Arizona to become the Phoenix and then Arizona Coyotes, and the Hartford Whalers picked up from Connecticut and moved to North Carolina to become the Carolina Hurricanes.
Winnipeg got a team back in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg to become the current iteration of the Jets. Pending the approval of the Coyotes relocation to Utah, the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg is the most recent relocation in the NHL.
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