Salt Lake City Coyotes? NHL Makes 'Significant Progress' on Relocation

The National Hockey League is preparing to move the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City as soon as next season, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

News broke on the heels of the Coyotes' announcement of plans to build an arena in Phoenix, which involved Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo's bid to win a land auction in June. The NHL has now prepared a backup option in case Meruelo doesn't win.

The Daily Faceoff caught wind that the league is preparing two schedules for next season: one involving the Coyotes in Arizona and another for the team in Utah. Frank Seravalli also reported that Meruelo is involved in both scenarios.

There is a real possibility that the Coyotes might not be based in Phoneix come June 27.

Later Wednesday, Seravalli reported "the NHL, Arizona Coyotes and Smith Entertainment Group have made significant and meaningful progress on an agreement that would see the Coyotes franchise sold and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah."

If that's the case, the NHL would reportedly purchase the Coyotes from Meruelo in a deal believed to be worth around $1 billion. The NHL would then sell the team to Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz, at a price that could be as high as $1.3 billion. Part of that price tag is a relocation fee that would be distributed to league owners.

"We are interested. We are ready, and we're a partner," Smith told The Athletic this week. "The arena is done. We think we have a solution. And that's my message to the NHL."

The Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals unanimously approved a $68.5 million appraisal of a 95-acre parcel of land in north Phoenix. The auction for that land is set for June 27, when Meruelo plans to put his bid in.

The timing of everything is curious. The Coyotes have taken to social media recently with strong messages reassuring fans that hockey belongs in the desert. Perhaps, it means that Meruelo plans on winning the auction — or something else?

Sources told Seravalli that part of the agreement to sell now could include language that would allow Meruelo to "reactivate" the Coyotes franchise in future years, including name and trademarks, if a new arena is built and terms and conditions of the agreement with the NHL are met.

Commissioner Gary Bettman has made it clear over the years that he doesn't want the Coyotes leaving Arizona. He has also stressed that the league is not looking to expand or relocate teams. However, in January, Smith Entertainment Group formally requested that the NHL initiate an expansion process and bring a team to Salt Lake City.

If the Coyotes win the auction, construction on the new arena would start in the second quarter of 2025 with puck drop roughly scheduled for 2027. That is a similar timeline to when they thought they were going to build a 16,000-seat arena in Tempe that was struck down by voters in 2023.

The last NHL franchise relocation was in 2011, when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and resurrected the Winnipeg Jets name.