Inside the Coyotes’ stunning move from Arizona to Utah

Ryan Smith considers Utah the capital for winter sports.

“It’s hard to think about that without hockey, right?” said Smith, a tech billionaire with a growing portfolio of sports franchises that includes the NBA’s Utah Jazz.

Smith began his pursuit of an NHL team a few years ago, formally expressing his interest in an expansion franchise to commissioner Gary Bettman. Smith believed the league had experienced “a rising,” from the quality of play to the value of television contracts. His wife, Ashley, is from Las Vegas, which is five hours away from Salt Lake City. “It’s impossible not to see the success that’s happened there,” he said.

The message Smith conveyed to Bettman and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly was, “We’re here and we’re ready.”

About two months ago, Bettman needed to know exactly how ready Ryan and Ashley Smith were to own a team.

The Arizona Coyotes had been playing at Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat rink on the campus of Arizona State University, for the past two seasons. Mullett had been billed as a temporary home as the club sought to build a new arena, but it looked as if it might have to house the team until 2027 as the Coyotes worked through their latest land acquisition plan.

Bettman believed that change in timeline made the Coyotes’ situation untenable. It was time for the NHL to leave Arizona — for now. So how ready was Utah to take the team in, starting next season?

The conversation with Smith took a hard pivot. He recalls Bettman hammering two questions:

“Can you guys pull this off? Can you really pull it off?”

Smith unequivocally said yes.

“I mean, if you would’ve told me at the beginning of the year that this is where we’d be, I’d say you were crazy. … It’s unprecedented,” Smith said. “This is a different process. I don’t think anyone’s ever done it or seen it. But we’re in. We’re all-in. And I have a lot of faith in the people in Utah and how they show up for things.”

The NHL board of governors officially approved the sale and relocation of the Coyotes to Smith Entertainment Group on April 18, unanimously.

Cheers in Utah followed a night of tears at Mullett Arena. Fans who had supported this team from Phoenix to Glendale to Tempe openly wept as players saluted them one last time before they gifted Coyotes supporters with the jerseys…