Coyotes moving to Salt Lake City is basically a done deal and will move around April 18th. I'm going to guess that they will be called the Utah Yeti (Ryan Smith said how the U and Y would be for Utah Utes and BYU). This whole thing is weird, so Ryan Smith is buying the team for 1.2 billion and The NHL get $200 million, and Alex Meruelo gets $1 billion. The coyotes go inactive, so Alex Meruelo holds a 5-year window to reactive the Coyotes and will give the $1 billion back ad an expansion fee. To do that he has to win the land auction and build the arena. The Tuson Roadrunners move to Tempe and play out of Mullett Arena for at least 1 year. Meruelo would own the AHL team still since it is not part of the sale. ASU wanted the Coyotes to build an arena district on the old golf course on ASU land (so they could use the arena for basketball) but Meruelo couldn't put a sports book there, but he could have put it at Tempe Marketplace, on Mill Ave in downtown Tempe, or across the lake at Watermark. I just don't see how the NHL would let Meruelo own another team after all the issues that have gone on, and the fan base want nothing to do with him. He should just take the $1 billion and laugh at the NHL thinking they would get that back as an expansion fee.
Utah did get $900 million for a new arena but watch it as long as it takes Meruelo to get arena built if he still does it. They should just play in Maverik Center (12,000) which IS a hockey arena for the time being over the Delta Center (14,000 but because of obstructed seats 10,000 is what I've heard is the capacity).
With NHL insiders saying the Coyotes have the best fans for what they have been through over the years, I might have to agree sucks for them.
The irony
Links to everything:
Sources: NHL, Arizona Coyotes working on agreement to sell and relocate to Salt Lake City - Daily Faceoff
https://x.com/Gambo987/status/1779011908018020361
