{"id":439646,"date":"2024-04-10T12:18:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T16:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=439646"},"modified":"2024-04-10T16:43:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T20:43:54","slug":"the-nhl-makes-interesting-decision-regarding-arizona-coyotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/04\/10\/the-nhl-makes-interesting-decision-regarding-arizona-coyotes\/","title":{"rendered":"The NHL Makes Interesting Decision Regarding Arizona Coyotes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Earlier today the schedule makers decided on their 2024-25 NHL regular season schedule with a second version. They are in the process of drafting up next year\u2019s schedule. Moreover, there was to be one version based on the Coyotes being in Arizona. However, there was going to be a secondary edition of one based on the Arizona Coyotes relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah. We say &#8216;was&#8217; because that was before the latest news reportedly broke. Apparently there is a verbal agreement in place that the franchise will relocate and play at the home of the NBA\u2019s Utah Jazz, the Delta Center. What&#8217;s more, is that the players have reportedly been informed of this verbal deal.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Updated <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyFaceoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DailyFaceoff<\/a> story on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Yotes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Yotes<\/a> and Salt Lake City happenings.<\/p>\n<p>Click image below:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wvc66RJpT9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/wvc66RJpT9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1778140284540354966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NHL<\/a> is drafting two schedule versions for next season &#8211; one with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Yotes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Yotes<\/a> in Arizona, another with the relocated franchise playing in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<p>Fluid situation. Lots of moving parts. Details on dual paths and a potential transaction.<\/p>\n<p>Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wvc66RJpT9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/wvc66RJpT9<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mI98R6GEU8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mI98R6GEU8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1778065322525819321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>The NHL Coyotes Could Have a New Arena, Just in Salt Lake City not Arizona<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Of course, the timing is always of interest and makes the talks seem very close to reality because of a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanQualtrics\/status\/1777358880437317889\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweet<\/a> earlier this week. Ryan Smith is the current owner of the Utah Jazz. His tweet of earlier this week was pontificating a new NHL franchise if one so happened to become available. Hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge! Regardless, there definitely is traction in a move from Arizona to Utah. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">The Current State of the Arizona Coyotes Playing in the Mullet Arena<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">And why wouldn&#8217;t there be traction? The fact the NHL houses a team in a 4,600-seat arena is a farce. Yes, it is a nice story and all. Also, the Coyotes started the season well. However, as the season wore on, the Coyotes fell back and will end somewhere between a great NHL draft lottery position and a more or less okay one. The Coyotes currently find themselves with the fourth-worst record in the NHL. Moreover, they are within only a point of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/canadiens\/\" target=\"_self\">Montreal Canadiens<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/senators\/\" target=\"_self\">Ottawa Senators<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Heading into the 2024 NHL entry draft the Coyotes do <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nhl\/who-holds-the-most-2024-nhl-draft-picks-after-the-trade-deadline\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">have<\/a> their pick. They also have 13 total after having traded away players for picks. A couple of players involved in some of those trades are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/chychja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-10_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jakob Chychrun<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuempda01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-10_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darcy Kuemper<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A Potential Move for the NHL to Salt Lake City<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"s2\">Back to some specifics on the potential deal, reportedly it would see current Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo sell the team. Ryan Smith and the Smith Entertainment Group would be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/news\/sources-nhl-drafting-2024-25-schedule-version-with-coyotes-relocated-to-salt-lake-city\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paying<\/a> upwards of $1.2 billion for the franchise. This amount would have a <a href=\"https:\/\/beyondtheglasshockey.com\/2023\/02\/for-sale-how-purchase-nhl-team-part-iii-nhl-approval.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">relocation fee<\/a> built into it for dispersal amongst NHL owners. Nothing is set in stone&#8230;.yet. And there is a little time, but time is running out. The fact that the NHL did design a contingency plan is interesting, to say the least, if not direct evidence the move is already in the works. Expect more updates in the days to come.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier today the schedule makers decided on their 2024-25 NHL regular season schedule with a second version. They are in the process of drafting up next year\u2019s schedule. Moreover, there was to be one version based on the Coyotes being in Arizona. However, there was going to be a secondary edition of one based on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4222,"featured_media":439654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,2,4547,4548,21],"tags":[4123,5937],"class_list":["post-439646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-mammoth","tag-alex-meruelo","tag-arizona-coyotes-news"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}