Coyotes exploring options for new home in Arizona, Bettman says

LAS VEGAS --The Arizona Coyotes are exploring options for a new home after a public vote went against a proposed Tempe Sports and Entertainment district, and the NHL is hopeful the team can remain in the Greater Phoenix area.

"It's a terrific market and there are a lot of sports fans there," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. "It's a growing market and it's one of the larger markets in North America. … We're at the stage now where the League, ownership, our teams are strong and we're in a better position to resist moving than maybe we were 20 or 30 years ago, and we want to make sure we explore all options at this stage at where we are before consider having to relocate a club, and I'm hopeful we won't have to."

Following the failed vote May 16, the Coyotes announced they will continue to play next season at Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat building at Arizona State University in Tempe, after moving there from Gila River Arena in Glendale following last season. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Arizona's ownership group, headed by Alex Meruelo, has already begun the process of looking at other potential homes and he's hopeful a resolution can be reached quickly.

"It has to be in the relative near term," Daly said. "It's not as if the team is starting from scratch. The Meruelo ownership group did a lot of due diligence in connection with coming up with their Tempe plan, so they're aware of what their options are, or potential options are in the (East) Valley. They are cultivating through those options currently. There are multiple options.

"But obviously there is a ticking clock for sure in terms of finding a resolution."

Daly said Footprint Center, home of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, is not one of the options because it is not suited for hockey.

"Actually, it was built specifically to exclude the NHL and they just went underwent a major renovation, a multi-$100 million renovation as I understand it, which didn't make it any friendlier to accommodate hockey," Daly said. "I don't view that to be a solution, a long-term solution anyway."

NHL Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh said he has spoken with the players and Bettman about the Coyotes' situation and would like to see a plan in place by the beginning of next season.

"The way I look at it right now, if we don't have in the near future, a new location, we have to have a serious conversation," Walsh said.

On other topics discussed:

* The NHL salary cap next season is expected to be about $83.5 million, an increase of about $1 million, because the players will have not yet paid off their remaining escrow debt. Bettman had said in March that the cap was expected to increase by about $1 million but that the amount could be higher.

"We actually had a discussion about it [with Walsh] and the fact of the matter is the cap changes by definition are inextricably interwoven with what the escrow amount is," Bettman said, "and I think it's probably the safest to say that we're going to live with the agreement as it was last negotiated, and it is what is. But having said that, I think it's overwhelmingly likely the following season there will be a more normal cap increase."

* Bettman said none of the groups bidding to purchase the Ottawa Senators has been eliminated from consideration, but the process should be completed in the coming weeks.

"I know that they're trying to move forward as quickly as possible with the process," Bettman said. "The bidding was robust. The interest is great, and I'm being advised by GPS, Galatioto Sports Partners (the firm handling the sale), that they expect a very good outcome in the next few weeks. So, we'll have to sit back and see."

* Bettman said he met with Walsh "a couple weeks ago" and that plans for a World Cup of Hockey were among the topics they discussed.

"It's something that we're discussing," Bettman said. "There's a new regime and I think we're off to a great start together of communicating and focusing on how to move forward and I think what's clear is we both identify it as a priority."

The World Cup was last held in Toronto in 2016. Plans to hold a World Cup in February 2024 were put on hold because it was not feasible logistically to play the tournament then. The NHL and NHLPA announced jointly on Nov. 11 that they hoped to hold a World Cup in February 2025.

"We're going to continue to have dialogue," said Walsh, who was named NHLPA executive director Feb. 16. "I think it really is about setting a good relationship moving forward, making sure that both sides are working toward a common goal and [that] being a very productive, successful, whether it's a World Cup of Hockey tournament or whatever it might be. It's about making sure we're on the same page and not having a lot of space between us."

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report