Did Ryan Smith just confirm the NHL is coming to Utah?

As talk gets louder and louder that Utah Jazz, Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC owner Ryan Smith is bringing the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes to Utah in the very near future, Smith made his first known public statement on the matter Saturday morning on X.

While Smith didn’t officially confirm anything regarding the move, he quoted a post from a fan who brought up the idea of a “Stadium Series” game being played by the new team at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.

The Stadium Series is one of three series in the NHL that see games be played outdoors.

In quoting the post, Smith wrote, “Umm.. This would totally be happening. I know @PresidentUofU (University of Utah president Taylor Randall) would be down. You get it.”

While Randall hasn’t responded to Smith’s tweet, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan did, writing, Bring. It. On…..!!!!”

While Smith’s use of the word “would” may seem to suggest he didn’t want to make any major announcement in his post, it was his first post regarding the idea of the NHL coming to Utah since April 8, when he publicly solicited ideas for what a hypothetical NHL team in Utah’s nickname should be.

Two days later on April 10, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff first reported that a relocation of the Coyotes to Salt Lake City was becoming more and more imminent.

On Friday night, multiple outlets reported that Coyotes players have been informed of the move, and that they may be able to check out their new city as soon as next week.

Additionally, many NHL insiders have suggested that a formal announcement of the relocation could come next Wednesday or Thursday.