The saga of the Arizona Coyotes and their arena issues remain one of the major blemishes to the NHL’s image.
As of now, the Coyotes play professional hockey in Mullett Arena, a college hockey arena with fewer than 5,000 seats, and will continue to do so until a new arena is built somewhere in Arizona. However, on Wednesday, insider Frank Seravalli threw everyone a curveball with a report stating that the NHL is creating an alternate 2024-25 league schedule with the Coyotes playing in Salt Lake City in the event of a relocation.
Not only that, it seems progress has been made on a relocation plan for the Coyotes to move to Salt Lake City. While nothing is official, here’s everything we know about the Coyotes and the reports of a possible relocation to Salt Lake City.
So, what's all this about Salt Lake City?
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Salt Lake City was thrown into the mix as a possible Coyotes relocation spot thanks to Seravalli’s report on Wednesday. Originally, it was reported that the NHL was drafting a second 2024-25 schedule that put the Coyotes in Utah, clearly a backup plan in case the Coyotes current arena plans fell through. However, things ramped up when Seravalli later reported that the NHL, the Coyotes, and Smith Entertainment Group had made “significant and meaningful progress” on an agreement to relocate the team to Salt Lake City.
Here’s how Seravalli lays it down in his report on Daily Faceoff:
The NHL sent an update memo to the Board of Governors on Wednesday amid media speculation. Sources said Coyotes players have been informed a “verbal” agreement is in place, but we have received pushback on that characterization of talks. To date, no deal has been completed. There is much work to be done, and it’s complicated and will involve many layers and lawyers.
ESPN also corroborated the report, stating that an announcement on relocation could come “as soon as this month”, though the situation is a fluid one.
What's the Coyotes' proposed plan of action right now?
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Amid all the relocation talks, the Coyotes are currently on what seems to be their last hope for an arena in Arizona. Team owner Alex Meruelo is hoping to win an auction for state land, set to open on June 27. In this roughly 100 acres of desert land, the Coyotes are looking to build an arena and entertainment complex. Here are the details of Meruelo’s plan, according to the The Arizona Republic:
Meruelo wants to build a massive, approximately $3 billion complex, according to [team President and CEO Xavier] Gutierrez. The plans are similar to what Meruelo envisioned in Tempe, before the voters there rejected the proposal last year.
The plans call for a 17,000-seat arena, more than three times the size of the Coyotes’ temporary home at Arizona State University, and a practice facility. There would be a restaurant and retail center, hotel, office space, a 3,500-person theater and 1,900 residential units.
The project also carries a roughly $100 million in infrastructure costs for things like roads and water and sewer lines, in Gutierrez’s estimate. The State Land Department estimated the infrastructure cost would be at least $80 million.
It’s a hefty and ambitious project, but one the Coyotes seemingly had to pitch as their last-ditch effort to keep the team in Arizona after the arena proposal in Tempe failed.
How do the players feel about all of this?
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It seems as if Coyotes players are just as in the dark as the rest of us. According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, players have been following the relocation developments on social media.
Not a great look, but given that there are no concrete plans either way about where the Coyotes will make their home, it’s not really surprising with how this news broke.
What's the temperature on all of this in Arizona?
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Things are tense, to say the least. David D. Ortega, the mayor of Scottsdale, recently wrote an op-ed in opposition of the proposed arena location, stating that the city — which borders Phoenix — wants nothing to do with the project:
The proposed Phoenix version — bordering Scottsdale — was presented without mention of market demand for a new entertainment venue disguised as a hockey arena, or congested highway access, or questionable arena zoning entitlement. And the glitzy proposal was portrayed as the last gasp to keep hockey in Arizona.
The prospect of a rookie developer attempting to buy Arizona State Trust Land with absolutely no infrastructure on the Phoenix side of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road intersection at the doorstep of Scottsdale is not feasible, or welcome.
Pretty scathing words! At this point, it seems as if patience is running thin for folks in Arizona with how the Coyotes have handled this situation.
So, will the Coyotes actually move to Salt Lake City?
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Honestly, it’s hard to say. This could all be posturing in an attempt to increase the price for the upcoming state land auction that the Coyotes are looking to win to build their new arena on. Though given everything is on the table here for the Coyotes, it’s no surprise the NHL is looking into a contingency plan in case things in Phoenix fall through.
With the upcoming land auction only a few months away, we likely won’t have to wait too much longer to see the fate of the Coyotes decided.
