The NHL is seriously considering a return to a former market

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly recently told Craig Morgan of AZ Hockey Insider that the league has real interest in placing a franchise back in the Phoenix area, a market that has sat empty since the Coyotes packed up for Utah.

It is a notable shift in tone from an organization that spent years watching its Arizona experiment collapse under arena issues and ownership turnover.

The timing lines up with a bigger expansion push.

Back in June of 2025, the NHL kicked off a six month process to explore adding a second team in Texas, with Houston and Austin both in the mix.

Atlanta has also come up in conversation.

Any of these markets, Arizona included, would need brand new arenas built from scratch before a puck ever drops.

Whoever lands the 33rd franchise is looking at a massive bill.

Reports link Dan Friedkin, who owns AS Roma and Everton, to a potential $3.5 billion investment covering both the arena and the expansion fee.

That fee alone could hit $2 billion according to Elliotte Friedman, dwarfing what Seattle paid at $650 million and what Vegas paid at $500 million when they joined the league.

If Arizona does get another chance, it would not be unprecedented.

Winnipeg lost the Jets in 1996 and got a new version back in 2011.

The original Coyotes came from that same Jets relocation.

The league clearly does not view walking away from a city as permanent, and with a $1.2 billion sale sending the old Coyotes roster to Salt Lake City as the Utah Mammoth, the door in Phoenix never fully closed.

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