No, definitely not Calgary. After years of haggling,
they announced earlier this year that they are going to build a new arena to replace the aging Saddledome. That’s definitely off-the-table.
I do believe that Arizona is a strong candidate for relocation. Their arena situation is really bad.
Glendale, which is also where the Cardinals play, is located about 20 miles west of the Phoenix city center and that’s always a bad deal for teams who play at least half of their home schedule on weeknights.
It is especially bad for a team in a nontraditional market in which most of the population is east of the city. People are just not going to drive 45 minutes to an hour each way on a Tuesday night to watch the Coyotes play the Winnipeg Jets.
I don’t think it’s coincidental that Florida, Arizona and Ottawa are the three most likely relocation candidates and all three teams have arenas located well outside their city‘s center.
That said, I think Houston is easily the most likely choice to land a relocated team. That is the fourth largest city in the country and the Rockets owner, Tillman Fertita has made his interest in owning an NHL team very clear. That is why I would be surprised if they didn’t have an NHL team (probably Arizona) within the next four or five years.