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NHL team exits Arizona desert with an uncertain future
Logan Swinkels • April 19th, 2024 11:24 am
Yesterday, the Arizona Coyotes played out their final game of the 2023-24 NHL regular season by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2.
But as tears flowed in the stands and the team remained on the ice to salute their fans, it wasn’t just their final game of the season, it was quite likely the franchise’s final game in Arizona for the foreseeable future.
Today, those fears were confirmed when the NHL’s Board of Governors approved the relocation of the Coyotes’ assets to Salt Lake City, Utah.
It puts a pause on an often-troubled chapter, a somewhat failed ‘experiment’ to bring ice hockey to the Arizona desert.
Poor performance on the ice, plus mismanagement and bankruptcy off it – the Coyotes have been plagued by drama in recent years. Including the failure to secure a new permanent home arena after the city of Glendale chose not to renew their lease following the 2021-22 season, forcing the NHL team to play at Arizona State University’s Mullet Arena since – that alone, became the butt of many jokes, with the official capacity a quarter of what most NHL arenas hold.
But their near three decades of operating weren't a complete failure – the Coyotes invested heavily in youth programs, which has come to fruition with the likes of current NHL star Auston Matthews, who scored 69 goals this season, making their start in Arizona junior hockey.
With the move, the Arizona Coyotes brand is now inactive with owner Alex Meruelo retaining the rights to the name, logo, and trademark.
There is the potential of a return to the league within the next five years. But to do that, Meruelo will have to win a land auction set for June 27 with an expected starting bid set for US$68.5 million, before then committing billions more for his proposed sports and entertainment development.
Their current contracted players and hockey operations staff will transfer to the yet-to-be-named Utah team, under Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith. All future draft picks and reserve players that the Coyotes held the NHL rights for, will also transfer to Smith’s newest franchise.
The move to Salt Lake City comes at the time where the city is looking ahead to the possibility of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2034.
"We expressed our interest publicly with the NHL," Ryan Smith told The Associated Press.
"It’s probably been two years where we’ve said, ‘Hey, look, we really believe Utah can be an incredible hockey town.’ You look at all the demographics, we were just talking about the Olympics and you think about the Olympics coming back. It all kind of made sense."
Logan Swinkels has covered ice hockey in New Zealand and Australia as a writer, commentator and podcaster for over a decade, following NZIHL, AIHL and national teams.
