The Arizona Coyotes hope to announce their arena plan by the end of the year, owner Alex Meruelo said Monday.
The Coyotes have a year-to-year lease with ASM Global at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, a western suburb of Phoenix, where they have played since 2003.
"We're committed to Arizona," said Meruelo, who became Coyotes majority owner July 29, 2019. "It's not that simple, and you ask why. Well, we're still right now currently playing in Glendale. You know very well we can't leave tomorrow. It's impossible to leave tomorrow. So I have to be there probably a couple more years.
"Now, Glendale has expressed a tremendous amount of interest in us staying there, so I will listen to what they have to say. But we've also gotten a couple of offers from the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), which are extremely attractive."
Meruelo said the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the NHL to pause its season March 12 and disrupted business throughout the world, delayed the Coyotes at least 6-9 months.
"We had a lot of progress moving on with what we wanted to do with the team and where we were going, but this kind of set us back," Meruelo said. "But I do believe that we'll have something. … My goal is to have something done by the end of the year. That's my goal, and I believe that if it wouldn't have been for this situation, we would be a lot further on the process."
"Clearly this is home," Gutierrez said. "We want to find the right solution. But everything's on the table in terms of what makes sense for our team, for our fans and for this community. Clearly there's been conversations predating me about what is the best option. I'm very new. I'm going to look at everything.
"I'm obviously going to take the lead on this. But clearly, Mr. Meruelo also has his perspective that we would like to pursue a solution that's long term, that's financially stable and that makes sense for our team, for our players, for our fans and for this entire community."
Meruelo emphasized the Coyotes would stay in the market.
"I think the most important thing to report to all the fans, as I said before, I'm not leaving Arizona," he said. "I'm not leaving Arizona."
