The Coyotes could be playing their last few games in Arizona after a bombshell report stating that the franchise could relocate to Salt Lake City as soon as next season surfaced earlier this week, leaving the team in limbo.
And that potential transition has been extremely hard on the entire organization, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston.
“It's been a very trying season there and since all this news has really started to flood out into the public, we haven't yet heard from any Coyotes players about how they feel,” Johnston stated in the latest episode of TSN's Insider Trading.
“But I can tell you behind the scenes, there is a fair amount of unrest, uneasiness, about the uncertainty of this team. You have players who have kids in school, players who own houses in Phoenix and there's not really that much that can be said.”
Matt Dumba, who was with the Coyotes until the 2024 trade deadline — he was shipped to the Tampa Bay Lightning — told Johnston that it's been “a bit like mental warfare for the players there this year.”
“The NHLPA is doing what it can to keep the players in the loop,” Johnston added, “but at this point in time, there's a world where they're moving to Salt Lake City next season but there is also still a chance they're back at Mullett Arena in Tempe if this isn't able to be resolved.”
It's clearly a fluid situation in the desert, with no final indication as to whether the team will stay in Arizona or move to Utah for 2024-25 and beyond.
League continues to manage Coyotes situation
Although the organization will either stay in Arizona or move to Utah, it's much more complicated than that, per The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
“Nothing simple when it comes to this story and what's playing out in the desert. Number one, the league continues to work behind the scenes to find a solution to what Bill Daly yesterday told us yesterday was a ‘challenging and difficult situation.' A comment that did not go unnoticed among a lot of teams in the league,” explained LeBrun on Insider Trading.
“It's really the league's most public acknowledgement of the difficulties of this year and what appears to potentially be the end of the Coyotes in Arizona. But, may not be, and that's what's so delicate here, in terms of a timeline, if the league can pull this off, if they can negotiate both a sale of the Coyotes and a purchase by Salt Lake, what about when this could happen? As early as next week? I think that's a little hopeful.”
It looks like there will at least be a resolution sooner rather than later. Still, it's a very difficult position to be in for anyone involved with the team.
The Yotes are currently 34-40-5 and second-last place in the Central Division. With constant negativity surrounding the current iteration of the franchise, as well as constant problems in the quest to make a National Hockey League franchise viable in Arizona, a relocation to Salt Lake City might be inevitable at this point.
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