Brawndo

It’s not suddenly holding a gun to the head of Alex Meruelo. He has had plenty of time to get a plan in place for a new arena. This is the same owner who did not pay rent or taxes to the City Of Glendale, which lead to the the City deciding not to renew the Coyotes Lease as the City stating its decision was due to “increased focus on larger, more impactful events and uses of the city-owner arena.” Per the Desert Diamond Arena Calendar there were 23 events between October and April, with one event the entire month of January and two in February. It does not look good when an arena owner willingly gives up 41 nights of arena use, as the tenant has been difficult to deal with. There is also pressure from the other owners and intense pressure from the NHLPA to resolve this. The Coyotes Players filed multiple grievances with the NHLPA about violations of the CBA. Meruelo and the Coyotes acted as if winning the Tempe Vote was a forgone conclusion. NHLPA President Marty Walsh, who knows a thing or two about local elections, met with Coyotes Leadership, looked at the Yotes Campaign and immediately realized it was doomed to fail. They have had multiple chances to get the franchise on stable footing and stumbled each time, if they don’t settle things soon the NHL will be forces move in a different direction. He should get his original purchase price back at least. This of course the NHL’s Ultimate Dream, which is why the current ownership group has gotten more time The one of the original owners of Coyotes sold his share to Ellsman when Ellsman insisted on the new arena being built in Glendale, Moyes wanted to build it on the Eastern Side of Phoenix where most of the population is. Ironically, Friedman and Marek were talking about expansion cities this afternoon Atlanta of course was mentioned as was a possible return to Phoenix with an ownership group with a stable arena plan. Friedman mentioned that the thought is the market is too big for the league not to be there.

This is cool

Final purchase price was 950 million for 90%of the team. It will take until the fall to close however

I think he is a minority owner in Montreal.

Eichel even mentioned the professionalism KA displayed throughout the whole process in His interview with Friedman on the day he was traded

As Sabel mentioned, the NHL would have had to sign off on the plan for the Coyotes to play at Arizona State while the team searches for a new arena. Part of that agreement could contain a forced buyout option that the NHL can invoke if the Coyotes do not have a confirmed deal in place for a new arena by a certain date.

Maybe have the Andersen Siblings in Buffalo next year?

VO expecting to be traded this Summer

But Dahlin and Power did not, they would play on their off hand

Marek made it sound as if the Coyotes Owner would not have a choice in the matter, he sells to the NHL and then the NHL makes the decision on where the Coyotes relocate to. Given the state of the franchise and the fact they do not have a suitable arena to play I imagine they could be in violation of NHL Ownership Bylaws which would allow the NHL to step in. Couple that fact other owners cannot be happy with decrease in revenue based on the team playing in Mullet Arena, I can’t imagine they will side with Him or be happy with Meruelo possibly pocketing 700 million in profit.

With the value of franchises exponentially increasing the orders will probably look to capitalize on that and expand by two more franchises the NHLPA would love that as it would increase the number of jobs available in the league by 46. With the number of people playing hockey continue to grow in nontraditional markets, eventually we will start seeing more and more talent come through at the result. Adding two more franchises with a valuations greater than $1 billion apiece, puts more money in the owners pockets. Jeff Marek speculated back in September, that if the coyotes were to relocate the most likely scenario would be the NHL buying the franchise from the existing owner, and then selling it to an owner in another city for an expansion style fee, with the proceeds going to the existing owners. For example, the NHL would buy Arizona at a discounted price of 300 to 400 million and then sell the team to Ryan Smith of Salt Lake City for 1.1 billion with the profits being shared amongst the existing owners. Smith, is a billionaire who owns the Utah Jazz as well as Salt Lake City MLS team. He was on the 32 thoughts podcast talking about bringing the NHL to Salt Lake City, he has met numerous times with Gary Bettman to discuss this.

Another dark horse candidate would be Kevin Shattenkirk, he had very good metrics on a historically bad Anaheim Defensive and is a RHD. Probably could be had for a two year 4.5 million AAV deal.

Acquiring a legimate Top 4 defenseman as an entire season rental for pick likely to be between 18-27 is a smart move Granato and the Analytics Staff do not care about handiness, their defenseman played the second most amount of minutes on their off hand in the league last year. If they don’t care neither do I.

He also plays LW and has better offensive skills than Zemgus. Imagine putting a finisher on the same line as Krebs, historically a playmaker and Okposo. Besides that, Hart would be the biggest part of the return.

Except the next round of expansion is probably 3-4 seasons away meaning TNT, Tuch, Cozens, Krebs, Mitts, JJP, Kulich and probably Rosen would be eligible, although I imagine one or two are moved before then.

If anything Eichel winning the cup might actually help increase Adams and the Sabres reputation around the league with players. Adams stepped into an ugly situation but did right by both the player and the Sabres Organization. He traded Eichel to a SC Contender and got very good assets in return. Look at Reinhart calling Adams back the day after the trade to thank him for moving him to a good situation. These moves coupled with the improved play and the vibes around the organization should put the Sabres on a lot more players radar

I would trade 13OA as part of a package for Hellebuyck or Saros. Hanifin I would be a little hesitant about. I think you would get more bang for the buck with a goalie or moving it for a defenseman with term and a lower AAV or a RFA needing a new deal. Dream scenario is K’Andre Miller. Evolving Hockey has Hanifin’s most likely next deal at 8 years 7.4 million AAV. His metrics slipped a little this pass season, but I would offer a Top 10 protected 2024 1st for him though.

They have turned down late first round picks for Laughton alone nearing the TDL last year. 13 OA plus would be the minimum and probably very worth it

The next round expansion fees will likely exceed one billion, meaning each of the 32 existing franchises, assuming Seattle participates in the expansion draft, will receive a minimum of 32.5 million from the 33rd franchise and even more with the 34th. Vegas and Seattle are already amongst the top teams for generation of league wide revenue per Friedmann, having competitive teams is a large driver behind this. There is NFW the NHL BOG changes anything to do with expansion rules. It’s not Vegas’s Fault that GMs were stupid and made very poor decisions in side deals to protect players. The Vegas Owner Bill Foley has been aggressive with wanting a championship team through trades and UFA signings and has the right GM to fulfill this. Seattle assembled an excellent analytics department, which put together a good roster. They shouldn’t be punished for making smart decisions

For comparison here is a partial list of who they interviewed and did not interview last year. Jimmy Snuggerud Noah Warren Marco Kasper Luca Del Bel Belluz Sam Rinzel 31 teams only Tampa did not Cruz Lucas Simon Nemec Frank Nazar Noah Östlund Owen Beck Brad Lambert Denton Mateychuk Jani Nyman Topi Ronni Rutger McGroarty Jonathan Lekkerimaki Liam Ohgren Alexander Suzdalev Jack Devine Ben MacDonald Logan Cooley Rieger Lorenz Michael Buchinger Jagger Firkus Cutter Gauthier Conor Geekie Matthew Savoie Confirmed did not interview Issac Howard Jack Hughes Dylan James Michael Fisher Jeremy Anglois Isiah George Hunter Haight Bryce McConnell-Barker Lane Hutson Joakim Kemell