NHL COMING? League Ready to Relocate Coyotes to Salt Lake City, Per Report

There is increasing momentum for it to happen, and the NHL is close to relocating the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City. The activity has escalated quickly over the last few days, according to a report from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

At the NHL All-Star break, reports surfaced the NHL would create a backup schedule with the Coyotes in Salt Lake City if the organization did not have an arena plan in place.

On Monday, Scottsdale, Ariz., mayor David Ortega issued a written statement publicly blasting the Coyotes’ plan to purchase land to build a new arena and entertainment district. The state of Arizona will auction off the land, which borders Scottsdale, in late June.

However, there is no infrastructure connecting Highway 101 to the land.

“The prospect of a rookie developer attempting to buy Arizona State Trust Land with absolutely no infrastructure on the Phoenix side of the 101/Scottsdale Road intersection at the doorstep of Scottsdale is not feasible or welcome,” the statement read.

Seravalli echoed that multiple schedule report earlier Wednesday but then reported things were moving forward quickly.

“Sources tell @DailyFaceoff – NHL, Arizona Coyotes & Smith Entertainment Group have made significant progress on the framework of an agreement to relocate the Coyotes to Salt Lake City, Utah,” Seravalli tweeted. “(An) NHL memo updated Governors today. Not done. Many layers and lawyers. (There is) much work to do.”

On Tuesday, ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes reported a potential ownership group from Houston and the Smith Entertainment Group (which also owns the Utah Jazz) met with NHL executives in Manhattan. Jazz owner Ryan Smith has been increasingly public with his desire to bring NHL hockey to SLC.

This week, Smith went as far as soliciting team names from fans.

All arrows are pointing to this becoming a reality, and quickly.

UPDATE: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the move could happen as early as April 18.