NHL Approves Arizona Coyotes' Hockey Ops Move To New ...

Arizona Coyotes players celebrates a goal during their final game at Mullett Arena on April 17, 2024 ... [+] in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

For the Arizona Coyotes brand, it might not be goodbye: it may just turn out to be ‘see you later.’

But for the players, the prospects and the team’s hockey operations department, next year is going to look very different.

On Thursday, the NHL’s board of governors officially approved the transfer of the Coyotes’ current hockey assets to the Smith Entertainment Group, controlled by Ryan and Ashley Smith and based in Salt Lake City.

Technically, this is not a relocation. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo retains ownership of the Coyotes name, brand and logo. And while the franchise is now officially ‘inactive,’ Meruelo will have the opportunity to reactivate the Coyotes if he “has fully constructed a new, state-of-the-art facility appropriate for an NHL team within five years,” per a press release from the league.

While Meruelo is aggressively pursuing a parcel of land in North Phoenix which is going to auction on June 27, the league felt that it was time to look at options for the immediate future beyond keeping the hockey team playing its home games as the second tenant in 4,600-seat Mullett Arena, on the campus of Arizona State University.

“I agree with commissioner Gary Bettman and the National Hockey League, that it is simply unfair to continue to have our players, coaches, hockey front office, and the NHL teams they compete against spend several more years playing in an arena that is not suited for NHL hockey,” said Meruelo in the league’s statement. “But this is not the end for NHL hockey in Arizona.”

Owner Ryan Smith of the Utah Jazz (R) talks with Fraser Bullock, President and CEO of the Salt ... [+] Lake-Utah Committee for the Gameson April 11, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Next season, the team will be playing at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, which is the home of the Utah Jazz and is also owned by Smith Entertainment Group. It seats just over 18,000 for NBA games, per Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com, and will require some renovations to maximize its potential for hockey.

“Right now, we’ve got 12,000 perfect seats (for hockey),” said Smith. “But you know, I was just looking at the plans to be able to get to [about 17,500] on hockey without ruining the slope ... We want to actually use our arena and really spend time creating the best dual-sport arena that exists out there, because we want to keep people as close as we possibly can or as vertical as we possibly can to watch both games.

“How do we maintain that while making it really cool and innovative for hockey? And it’s super fun and challenging, but we’re going to do it.”

Smith made his fortune as the co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management company that was sold to SAP for $8 billion in 2019, and which Smith remains involved with. In 2020, he purchased the Jazz and the Delta Center and in 2022, he partnered in a purchase of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer with David Blitzer.

As a co-owner of the New Jersey Devils, Blitzer pitched him on the appeal of NHL ownership.

“He’s like, ‘My favorite place in the world is up against the glass in New Jersey. Of any sporting event, anything, that’s my happy spot,’” Smith told Cotsonika. “And I’m like, ‘Wow.’”

Originally, the plan was to follow in the successful footsteps of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken and acquire an expansion franchise. But after the Coyotes failed in the referendum vote that would have kickstarted a new arena and entertainment complex in Tempe in May of 2023, the league started to consider another way of bringing Smith into the fold.

“I think we look at it and say, ‘Hey, look, we can be helpful,’” Smith said. “I think there’s ways where expansion would be much easier and much better. I think there’s also ways that this is much better. There’s infrastructure built. There’s a roster. There are assets. So, look, we can all talk about what the better option is five years from now, but Utah’s ready for a team. Let’s go.”

Without much time to prepare before the puck drops for the 2024-25 NHL season next October, Smith has said that he plans to take his time developing the new team’s name and branding. One thing is for certain, though — like the Jazz, the team name will be ‘Utah,’ not ‘Salt Lake City.’

This take-your-time approach to branding was also adopted by the new women’s hockey league, the PWHL, which has used its market names as identifiers in its first season.

So while the Utah team doesn’t have a brand yet, it does have a solid foundation of on-ice talent to build off, as well as a deep pool of prospects and draft picks.

Because they’ve been operating on a shoestring budget for years, the Coyotes have regularly sold off assets and salary-cap space, and built that prospect pool. In the last three years, they have made a whopping 31 draft picks, and that group has already produced NHL players like forwards Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Josh Doan as well as defenseman J.J. Moser, who has passed 200 NHL games played.

Per CapFriendly, Smith’s new package of assets also includes 33 more picks over the next three years, including 10 second-rounders. Those can be used to further build the prospect pool — or could be useful trade assets if GM Bill Armstrong is given the green light to accelerate the rebuild by making deals for established top talent.

With more than $40 million in cap space projected to be available for the 2024-25 season, Utah could also be a major player in free agency — at a time when the salary cap will finally start to rise after years of stagnation since the COVID-19 pause.

After the Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in an emotional final game at Mullett Arena on Wednesday, Smith plans to begin his outreach to the players and staff as soon as possible, to “make sure that they have a great experience.

“There’s a good roster and a lot of young talent,” Smith said. “We’ve got to onboard those people into Smith Entertainment Group and show them what that means and what that’s like ... introduce them to the state of Utah and also bring the community together to receive them, and that’s what we want to do.

“I mean, I think they’ve been in a spot where it’s been a little tricky, and I think we have a chance as a community to show, this is a moment.”

Per ESPN sources, the sale price for the new franchise and the Coyotes’ hockey assets was $1.2 billion. Meruelo, who purchased the team for $300 million in 2019, will pocket $1 billion. The remaining $200 million will be split among the NHL’s other teams.