Even after the team moved and Utah officially began operations, there remained hope that the Coyotes may return to the NHL one day. According a breaking news report from journalis

Will hockey return to the desert? Local officials are dropping the puck on the arduous process of bringing back the Arizona Coyotes.

The newly elected Chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is working to bring professional hockey back to Arizona. He says he's had several conversations with the NHL Commissioner about finding an owner and arena location.

Maricopa County intends to form a committee to find a way to get a new National Hockey League team in the Valley. Supervisor Thomas Galvin made the announcement during the swearing in ceremony in downtown Phoenix for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. During the same meeting, Galvin was elected chairman of the board.

The year 2025 is the first year since 1996 that the NHL will not feature the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes, of course, moved to Salt Lake City, Utah this past offseason and started the 2024-25 campaign as the Utah Hockey Club, ending nearly 30 years of NHL hockey in the Arizona desert.

Just when you thought the story was over, the wheels are in motion to bring the NHL back to a place it had just left. According to Arizona Insider Craig

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently met with a newly formed committee of Maricopa County “political and business leaders” interested in pursuing an expansion franchise to bring the league back to Arizona.