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NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said in a new interview that his organization remains in the dark about the future of the Coyotes in Arizona but that it is strongly urging the NHL to find a solution soon.
"A lot of time has gone by," Walsh told Joe Smith of The Athletic in an interview published Wednesday. "I was in Arizona probably a year ago now. … We were talking about ballot questions at that point. They felt positive about that. That didn't happen. They were talking about, 'Oh, we're going to find a new place pretty quickly.' The year has gone by and they haven't found anything, at least to my knowledge. So the clock is ticking on Arizona, in my opinion.
The Coyotes are in the second season playing at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. The club had plans to build a new facility in Tempe, Ariz., but those plans were defeated in a public referendum last spring.
At the most recent Board of Governors meetings in early December, commissioner Gary Bettman said the club had roughly until the end of January to finalize a new plan.
"They're working on it," said Bettman on Dec. 5. "I think there was speculation that they're looking at a particular piece of property, and they're looking in the next few weeks to get it finalized and they understand that it's important for it to get finalized in time for us to do next season's schedule."
Shortly before Bettman's comment, Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez told Craig Morgan of PHX Sports that the club hoped to make an announcement by the end of the year, or early in 2024. Gutierrez said the announcement would be for the actual choice of an arena site, not another potential site like the Tempe plan, Morgan added.
In a radio interview on Jan. 5, Gutierrez outlined the requirements imposed by the NHL after the Tempe vote failure and said the team has until the end of the season to close a deal.
"It comes from the requirements that were imposed on us by the NHL that we find a location and pursue a path that would not subject us to a public referendum vote, and really that has squared in finding a piece of land that is zoned for an arena so we can still move forward," Gutierrez said told Arizona Sports' Burns & Gambo, adding "We still envision this to be a landmark project, privately funded, we're gonna buy the land and build the buildings and maintain them ourselves like we've said all along."
In his interview with The Athletic, Walsh said the team has not contacted the NHLPA about the matter but that Bettman keeps him updated on the situation.
"They have not had conversations with me at all," Walsh said. "I believe they've been talking to the league, but they've not talked to me about it, which I think is a little strange. You would think they'd want to keep us up to date because we've been pretty vocal about it. I'm sticking to what I said at the very beginning. The players deserve and will play in a better arena. They have to."
Walsh's latest comments were published the same day Smith Entertainment Group, the owners of the NBA's Utah Jazz and other sports and entertainment properties in Utah, released a statement showing public interest in adding an expansion NHL team in Salt Lake City.
"We are ready to welcome the NHL and are confident that the time and attention being spent by all parties will bring one of the most exciting and dynamic leagues in the world to our community on a permanent basis," SEG owner and chairman Ryan Smith said in a statement.
The statement goes on to say the Delta Center, home of the Jazz, could host a team immediately before a new facility is built in anticipation of a bid by Salt Lake City to host the Winter Olympics in 2034.
Speaking Wednesday on The Jeff Marek Show, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says the timing of the SEG statement is notable in relation to the ongoing situation in Arizona.
"It's impossible not to look at that and say there's a reason for this to happen around this time," Friedman said. "I think No. 1, it opens up the expansion conversation around the NHL and I think No. 2 it's a message to Arizona, that if you don't find us something we have an alternative."
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