Former Arizona Coyotes fans can perhaps find something positive about the NHL's potential expansion plan, but no guarantees.
The league's deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, said on Thursday, Sept. 8, that the league is in further discussions to add three teams from its current 32. Possibilities include Arizona, Atlanta and a team in Houston or Austin, Texas. ESPN first reported the news.
The Coyotes were sold by owner Alex Meruelo and relocated to become the Utah Mammoth.
"I don't think we ever soured on Phoenix as a market," Daly said at the NHL and National Hockey League Player Association (NHLPA) player media tour in Las Vegas. "I think our issue in Phoenix was the location of the building. It's always the location of the building.
"I think with
the right location, we collectively believe that Phoenix would be a great market."
No timetable for a Phoenix expansion team has been set.
Daly said the talks have continued with "at least two groups" in Phoenix. A story Sept. 3 in The Arizona Republic reported one of the Phoenix groups that the NHL is in talks with is the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, led by its chairman, Tom Galvin.
Galvin vowed when he was sworn in during January 2025 to bring an NHL team back to Arizona. Galvin formed an advisory committee, involving Coyotes legend Shane Doan and Doan's wife, Andrea.
"We were both candid on each side with what we expect and what we think is necessary," Galvin said in The Republic's story. "Obviously, the NHL has been through a lot with what they experienced here in the Valley."
The Coyotes' dissolution happened after a long negotiation process for a new arena fell through. Before the Coyotes moved to Utah, they played at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix from 1996-03, Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale from 2003-22, and then Arizona State's much smaller 4,600-capacity Mullett Arena in Tempe.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NHL brings up Arizona as one of its expansion candidates
