Manalapan, Fla. • With Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo intent on trying to purchase 95 acres of land in Northeast Phoenix at an auction this summer, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly suggested Wednesday that if the Coyotes strike out in their latest attempt to build an arena, it may be too late to relocate the franchise in time for next season.
Asked directly if there would be enough time to pivot, Daly said, “Probably not. I don’t believe so.”
Of course, when it comes to the endless saga around Arizona’s attempt to find a permanent home, nothing is official until it’s official and there always seems to be a further update that changes everything.
Relocating a franchise isn’t something that can happen overnight, although the Atlanta Thrashers’ relocation to Winnipeg seemingly did when it was announced out of the blue on May 31, 2011. But with that announcement came the actual sale of the Thrashers to True North Sports & Entertainment, an ownership transfer and relocation that was approved by the Board of Governors on June 21, 2011.
Meruelo is currently not shopping the Coyotes, plus there are all sorts of logistics when it comes to next season’s schedule and giving players, staff and the franchise as a whole the necessary time to relocate to a different market.
In other words, they’re running out of days, with the auction not expected to be conducted until June. The Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals unanimously approved the $68.5 million appraisal of the land earlier this month. Now the entity can sell the land by way of an auction starting at $68.5 million. However, by law, the land must be publicly advertised for 10 weeks before the auction can be conducted.
Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league knows time is of the essence, but “we’re also focused on the fact that Alex Meruelo is working on acquiring what he believes is the best location for the new arena and his overall project.
“It continues to be something that we’re focused on, but more importantly, the ownership of the Coyotes is focused on.”
Asked if he’s satisfied with the process, Bettman said, “We would have preferred to be in a new arena by now. But there are certain things that couldn’t be controlled. We would have preferred the referendum in Tempe went the other way, but it didn’t. So we deal with what we can deal with. Having said that, we believe that Arizona, particularly the greater Phoenix area, is a good NHL market.”
One reason, besides a necessary ownership transfer, why it sounds like the Coyotes are likely staying in Tempe next season no matter what is Daly said the league hasn’t come up with a contingency schedule that has Arizona in a potential relocated market, like perhaps Salt Lake City.
While Daly said the league has flexibility as to when it releases next season’s schedule — it usually comes out around the June NHL Draft — 31 other teams do need an official schedule to begin the tedious process of booking their travel next season.
“It’s getting late,” Daly said.
Asked if the league can force an NHL owner to sell his franchise, Daly said, “That’s not a hypothetical that I’d even entertain, so I don’t want to answer the question. We’re in frequent communication with Alex Meruelo. They’ve been very businesslike and fine, so I don’t expect an issue.”
The Coyotes have one more year on their three-year agreement to play at Arizona State’s 4,600-seat Mullett Arena.
Bettman won’t comment on CTE accusation of Chris Simon’s family
After former NHL enforcer Chris Simon reportedly died by suicide at age 52 on Tuesday, his family released a statement to ESPN via his agent, Paul Theofanous, saying, “The family strongly believes and witnessed firsthand, that Chris struggled immensely from CTE which unfortunately resulted in his death.
“We are grieving with the loss of our son, brother, father, partner, teammate and friend. The entire Wawa community is sharing in our grief. We will not be releasing any further details at this time and ask for privacy during this very difficult time. We appreciate everyone who shares in our tragic loss.”
Chris Simon’s family issued a statement through his agent Paul Theofanous via ESPN’s @KevinWeekes
“The family strongly believes and witnessed firsthand that Chris struggled immensely from CTE which unfortunately resulted in his death.” https://t.co/30oOqFNuKk
— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) March 20, 2024
Asked about the statement from the Simon family, Bettman said, “Chris’ passing is tragic, it’s sad. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends. On all of these matters, we wait to see what the medical experts tell us. Having said that, I think it’s well-documented all of the progress that we’ve made over the last couple of decades to make the game as safe as possible.”
The NHL has long denied there’s a connection between CTE and repeated blows to the head. That hasn’t changed, Daly said, in a question from Daily Faceoff: “I think the science is still lacking.”
Expansion on the backburner
Daly said the NHL still hasn’t broached a formal expansion process from 32 teams to 34 with the NHL’s Board of Governors. Groups from Salt Lake City and Atlanta have announced interest.
“I haven’t thought of the June agenda yet,” Daly said. “There are so many other things that are more pressing right now than expansion. Whether it’s reported again at the June meeting — just in terms of the nature of the interest we’ve received, maybe it will be — (but) will that lead to an expansion process?
“Not sure.”
Next season’s 4 Nations Face-Off schedule stoppage
With the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament featuring the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland taking place next Feb. 12-20, Daly provided an update on next season’s schedule hiatus.
With no NHL All-Star break or bye week on the schedule, players not participating in the tournament will be off Feb. 10-17 with regular-season play halting Feb. 9. Team practices resume Feb. 18 with the season resuming Feb. 22.
Players chosen to play in the 4 Nations Face-Off will practice with their country Feb. 10-11.
Daly said teams can roster 20 skaters (likely 13 forwards and seven defensemen) and three goalies. If a player is injured before the tournament, he can be replaced. However, if a player is injured during the tournament, there will be no taxi squad to choose from.
That puts teams at risk theoretically of having to play short-handed if they suffer a few injuries.
Daly said the league hasn’t finalized the two North American cities — one in the U.S. and one in Canada — where games will be played.
The first six players for each nation will be announced in mid-June. All games will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional “round-robin” format under the following points system: three points for a win in regulation time; two points for a win in overtime/shootout; one point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and zero points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game final.
Odds and ends
• The NHL is expected to host its annual European Media Tour in Prague during the third week of August. The annual U.S. NHL Media Tour will be in Las Vegas on Sept. 9-11.
• The NHL, for the second year in a row, won’t hold a GMs meeting at the NHL Draft. Instead, there will be a daylong coaches/GMs meeting in Chicago in September.
• All rule recommendations from the GMs made Tuesday will go to the NHL’s competition committee at some point this offseason. If the competition committee agrees with the recommendations, the NHL’s Board of Governors will have to ratify the changes.
The committee, NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said Wednesday, consists of one owner, Minnesota’s Craig Leipold; four GMs including Edmonton’s Ken Holland and Detroit’s Steve Yzerman; and five players. The league still has to replace Doug Wilson and David Poile on the committee and is awaiting the NHLPA to advise them on which players will be on the committee.
• Bettman said revenues continue to grow in the NHL.
He expected hockey-related revenues are “probably going to be about $6.2 billion. It’s pretty much in line with what we were expecting. We were expecting a strong, vibrant season and it has been that from a business standpoint.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.