Arizona Coyotes: The team is expected to move to Salt Lake City, an AP source said

Arizona Coyotes players have been informed the NHL club will be moving to Salt Lake City, a person with knowledge of the meeting said late Friday.

General manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to talk to players about the team's possible move to Utah before the game against the Oilers, a person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Players and officials could travel to Salt Lake City next week, possibly after Wednesday's season finale, which could be the final game at Tempe's 5,000-seat Mullett Arena.

Coyotes players were unavailable after Friday night's 3-2 overtime win over Edmonton, and coach Andre Turinni said he would only take questions about the game.

“This team has been through a lot,” Turinni said. “When the rumor first came out, we didn't manage it properly and we shot ourselves in the foot, going on a 14-game losing streak. Our guys show how proud they are, how much they care about each other and how much they want each other to succeed. It's great to feel that, to see them support each other and push each other in the same direction.”

FILE – A marquee in front of Energy Solutions Arena, former home of the Utah Jazz, displays conflicting signs at dusk before a game against the Toronto Raptors, Monday, Nov. 20, 2006, in Salt Lake City. Preparations are underway for an NHL team to be in Salt Lake City sooner rather than later. Prospective owner Ryan Smith asked for public input on the team's name earlier this week. All of this comes as the Arizona Coyotes hope to win an auction for land to build a new arena in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Steve C. Wilson, File)

The news comes amid buzz that the NBA's Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith is working to buy an NHL team, a move that could see the league purchase and replace Alex Meruelo's Coyotes. Smith earlier this week asked for name ideas For a potential team in Salt Lake City, the league is working on two different drafts of the 2024-25 schedule based on whether the franchise will play in Arizona or Utah.

In January, Smith Entertainment Group said it was interested in bringing a hockey team to Salt Lake City and had an immediate opportunity to facilitate it. The team played at the Delta Center until the new arena was built. This notification contains a request to start the extension process.

But he's also near midseason and long-term homeless for the Coyotes in Arizona. An arena referendum in Tempe failed last year, and in recent weeks the team has said it intends to win a land auction for a potential arena site in Phoenix.

Even if this auction is successful, it could send the NHL back into the wilderness for a decade. NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh has repeatedly expressed concern about the current situation, playing in the small arena on Arizona State's campus, which was a possible home for the team until the new facility was built.

Now, the team may be headed for its third finish since joining the World Hockey Association league in 1979. Originally the Winnipeg Jets, the Suns moved on in 1996 to a Phoenix-area ownership group led by Jerry Colangelo. Arizona and rebranded as the Coyotes.

The group sold them in 2001 to developer Steve Ellman, part of Wayne Gretzky's ownership and head of hockey operations. The Coyotes moved from Phoenix to nearby Glendale in 2003.

After facing major financial difficulties, Ellman was sold to trucking magnate Jerry Moyes in 2005. The crisis continued for several years, and the NHL went from paying the team's bills to taking operational control of the organization in 2008.

Moyes bankrupted the team and lost the remaining ownership after word got out that he wanted to sell the Blackberry title to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who planned to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. After bankruptcy proceedings and several failed bids to buy the team over the years, a group of Canadian businessmen took over in 2013.

By 2014, the group agreed to sell a controlling stake to Philadelphia hedge fund manager Andrew Barroway, who bought the team's remaining shares in 2017. Meruelo bought a controlling stake from Barroway in 2019 and will own the team until it is sold to him. Smith Entertainment Group.

Salt Lake City, Utah, officials and the city's bid for the 2034 Olympics supported Smith's efforts to bring hockey to the state.

“Utah has a long history with hockey, the nation's strongest economy, passionate sports fans and the youngest and most active population,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in January. “These factors make Utah poised for the expansion of our sports and entertainment community.”

Smith said he and his team were “100 percent focused on getting this done as quickly as possible.” That now appears to be the case for the 2024-25 NHL season.

Salt Lake City would take the Coyotes over other options, such as Houston, which has been seen as a move since the league announced in 2018 that it would move to the Central Division in 2021 with the expansion Seattle Kraken. The success of the Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights, who won their sixth straight Stanley Cup last year, gave optimism to another hockey market in the western US.