Knights visit Salt Lake City for 1st time since Coyotes’ relocation

Adin Hill remembers his time in Arizona fondly.

It’s where the goaltender started his NHL career, after all. The Arizona Coyotes selected him in the third round of the 2015 draft and he spent four seasons there.

That meant Hill was curious from the beginning when it was announced that the Coyotes would relocate to Salt Lake City in April.

So far, things have worked out for the franchise, now known as the Utah Hockey Club. The team is 7-6-3 and one point out of a playoff spot entering Thursday.

Hill and the Golden Knights will play a regular-season for the first time at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center on Friday.

“It’s going to be a little weird (playing them in Utah), but I think it’ll be cool,” Hill said. “It’s exciting for the league. You’ve got a new team in a big, growing city.”

The Knights are at least familiar with the Utah Hockey Club on the ice. They won the first meeting between the two teams 4-3 in overtime Nov. 2 at T-Mobile Arena thanks to forward Brett Howden’s game-winning goal.

Friday will still be a unique experience for the Knights. Salt Lake City wasn’t on the NHL’s travel itinerary seven months ago.

But owner Alex Meruelo failed to secure a deal to get the Coyotes a new permanent home in Arizona, so the team’s assets were sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith with the league’s blessing.

The Utah Hockey Club took the ice six months later.

“I think it’ll be cool for all of us to walk into a new city, a nice building and play the game,” Hill said.

Who is Utah?

The Coyotes’ core still exists. Young players like right wing Dylan Guenther, center Logan Cooley and defenseman Maveric Lamoureux were considered essential to Arizona’s rebuild.

Now, they’ll build their NHL careers in Utah.

Captain Clayton Keller, who the Coyotes picked seventh overall in 2016, is also still around.

Utah tried to make a splash before its first NHL season. It acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on June 29 in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then added defenseman John Marino in a deal with the New Jersey Devils the same day.

Both moves showed Utah’s ownership group wants to compete. And the team has been scrappy so far. Utah is coming off its best win of the season, a 4-1 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 49 saves against the Hurricanes, who are third in the NHL in points percentage and beat the Knights 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

Hockey’s future in Arizona

Silver Knights defenseman Dysin Mayo was drafted in the fifth round by the Coyotes in 2014 and played 82 games for the franchise.

He experienced everything Arizona went through up close.

Mayo played 67 games in 2021-22, the Coyotes’ final season in Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, which has since been renamed Desert Diamond Arena. He then appeared in 15 games the next year when the team started playing in Mullett Arena on the Arizona State campus in Tempe, Arizona.

Mayo still has a place in Phoenix. The drive from there to Glendale, where the arena was, definitely wasn’t feasible and things needed to change.

“It felt like home to me,” Mayo said. “It’s sad to see them go. Hopefully, they get another franchise there. It’s important to get the right owners there and do it right this time.”

Hill and Mayo think there is a future for hockey in Arizona, but they’re happy their friends and former teammates are off to a strong start in their new location.

“Hopefully, they’ve found a forever home in Utah,” Hill said.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.