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Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Of course he won't say anything to undermine Arizona until there is no choice.
The Quebec quote is a bit interesting...they have both a new building and eager owners...
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It also leaves the potential hotbeds of Houston and Portland open for future expansion when (or if) the economic climate around pro-sports normalizes again.
There is the problem that a relocation fee for new owners would likely be in the same neighbourhood for an expansion fee. Not sure if the proposed Quebec ownership group is prepared to pay that much.
I agree that we are going to going to get carefully filtered information from Bettman regarding Arizona. Have to take it with a grain of salt. If it came down to desperation and the Coyotes had to do a red-eye relocation or fold, Quebec (or another owner in another city) might be able to leverage a discount. The NHL may therefore want to hedge their bets now and accept a reduced relocation fee. It kind of sucks for Seattle and Vegas who had to pay through the nose, but times changed quickly.