McDavid out vs. Vegas; NHL, Coyotes ‘making progress’ on sale and relocation to Utah: Around the League

While the LA Kings have certainly had the Canucks’ number this season, there’s very little doubt that the outcomes listed above are the ones Canucks fans should be hoping for.

Winning the Pacific? Yes, that’s good!

Nashville instead of Vegas or LA in round one? Also good!

Not having to hear from your insufferable Oilers fan friend about the Canucks choking away the Pacific Division title just before playoffs? The only thing that truly matters, really.

On McDavid, OilersNation’s Jason Gregor reports that the Oilers’ captain could miss up to a few games, but right now, he is expected to return before the end of the regular season.

NHL, Arizona Coyotes working on agreement to sell and relocate to Salt Lake City

This was a bombshell report from our own Frank Seravalli over at DailyFaceoff.com from earlier today. Here’s what Frank reported:

Sources tell Daily Faceoff that the NHL, Arizona Coyotes and Smith Entertainment Group have made significant and meaningful progress on an agreement that would see the Coyotes franchise sold and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah. The machinations of the potential deal, which would have a renamed and rebranded franchise playing in Salt Lake in October, are mentioned below in the original story from Wednesday morning. The NHL sent an update memo to the Board of Governors on Wednesday amid media speculation. Sources said Coyotes players have been informed a “verbal” agreement is in place, but we have received pushback on that characterization of talks. To date, no deal has been completed. There is much work to be done, and it’s complicated and will involve many layers and lawyers. Stay tuned.

Last week, the Coyotes’ ownership group made their desire to stay in the desert clear by building a new arena via Arizona State Land Trust auction, which is scheduled for June 27. According to Seravalli, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re staying in Arizona for next season.

“Many questions remain, but one stands out: with all of this is happening behind the scenes, why did the Coyotes release arena renderings and a strongly worded commitment to Arizona last week?

Perhaps the answer is that Meruelo intends to win the June 27 land auction and develop that sports and entertainment district in the hopes of luring the NHL back to Arizona with a future expansion franchise. Sources said part of the agreement to sell now could include language that would allow Meruelo to ‘reactivate’ the Coyotes franchise in future years, including name and trademarks, if a new arena is built and terms and conditions of the agreement with the NHL are met.”

Finally, Seravalli also added that the NHL is working on two prospective schedules: One with the Coyotes in Arizona, and one with the franchise in Salt Lake City.

This will certainly be an interesting situation to follow, and you can read the full report from Seravalli by clicking here.