The Coyotes have set their sights on building a new arena in the city of Mesa, Arizona, the team announced Wednesday.

"We can confirm that Coyotes Owner, Chairman & Governor Alex Meruelo has executed a Letter of Intent to purchase a parcel of land located in Mesa, Arizona to be the potential site for a sports arena and entertainment district for the Club," the team said in a statement.

The Coyotes' last bid to construct a new arena in Arizona failed when residents of Tempe voted against building a new $2.1-billion entertainment district back in May.

The club, which is currently playing out of the 4,600-seat Mullett Arena at Arizona State Unversity in Tempe, has vowed to remain in Arizona despite plenty of relocation speculation. The team's agreement to play at Mullett Arena expires after the 2024-25 campaign.

"The Coyotes remain committed to building the first privately funded sports facility in Arizona history and ensuring the Valley as the Club's permanent home. In addition to this property in Mesa, the Club will continue to explore other potential sites in the East Valley."

Mullett Arena is already the Coyotes' third arena since the franchise relocated from Winnipeg in 1996. The team played at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix before moving to Glendale's Gila River Arena in 2003.

Forbes ranked Arizona as the NHL's least valuable franchise in December.

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Mike Hoffman is excited to be a San Jose Shark again but for real this time.

The veteran sniper is a member of the Bay Area club for the second time in his career after being included in the three-team deal that sent Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. The Sharks acquired Hoffman for the first time in 2018 but flipped him to the Florida Panthers on the same day.

"It's funny how we're circling back to, maybe, four years ago," Hoffman said, according to San Jose Hockey Now's Josh Frojelin.

"Maybe longer. I was only there for maybe an hour the last time, and it looks like it might be a little longer than that this time. Like I said, it's a great opportunity, it's gonna be a cool experience, and looking forward to it."

Although Hoffman never officially suited up for the Sharks after the first trade, he made an impact among loyal San Jose fans.

Hoffman spent the past two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. He has one year remaining on his current contract at a cap hit of $4.5 million before hitting unrestricted free agency.

The 33-year-old winger has eclipsed the 20-goal mark on six occasions since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2014-15. However, Hoffman produced his lowest total over that span in 2022-23 with 14 goals.

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Veteran center Brandon Sutter is joining the Edmonton Oilers for training camp in September on a professional tryout agreement, according to team reporter Bob Stauffer.

Sutter hasn't played the past two seasons due to long-term COVID symptoms. He was one of several Vancouver Canucks to test positive during the 2021 campaign but returned to the ice to finish the year.

The 34-year-old signed a one-year deal with Vancouver for 2021-22 but didn't suit up for the duration of the contract due to his health.

Sutter has played in 770 NHL games split between the Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The 2007 11th overall pick has registered 152 goals and 137 assists over his career.

The Oilers are thin on center depth, but Sutter will have to come cheap if he parlays his audition into a contract. Edmonton has $3.5 million in cap space, according to Cap Friendly, and still needs to sign restricted free-agent star Evan Bouchard.

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The long weekend is in the books, and Rink Wide: Vancouver co-host Jeff Paterson joins in lieu of Matt Sekeres. Blake and Jeff recap a couple of NHL headlines from the weekend, with the Erik Karlsson trade and Matt Dumba signing, and what it means for the Canucks. Rick Dhaliwal stops by with some news surrounding Tanner Pearson’s possible return, plus new contracts for Ethan Bear and Elias Pettersson? Patrick Johnston of the Province weighs in with his view on those situations plus his review of JT Miller’s podcast interview and what to expect of Ilya Mikheyev next season. All that, plus Hashtags, Errors and Omissions and more! Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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Jeremy Swayman was thrilled to re-up with the Boston Bruins this summer but hopes he never has to go through third-party contract negotiations again.

The 24-year-old netminder was awarded a one-year, $3.48-million contract in arbitration earlier in August, and it's safe to say he didn't love the process.

"The biggest thing was living day by day, understanding that what you hear might not be the truth at all times," Swayman said Tuesday, per The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa.

"It's a business. I wanted to make sure that whatever was thrown my way, I was going to be able to attack it with a good mindset and making sure that at the end of the day, I was doing everything I could to be a Boston Bruin.

"There's no ill will on the process. Because I understand I'm not the first player to go through it and not the last. But I definitely don't wish it upon any of my friends or teammates moving forward. And I don't want to do it ever again as well."

Swayman became a restricted free agent this summer upon the expiration of a three-year, $3.15-million deal signed in 2020 - his first NHL contract.

He's eligible for arbitration as an RFA in 2024.

Swayman has made 88 appearances with the Bruins since debuting during the 2020-21 season, owning an impressive .920 save percentage overall. He qualified for the All-Rookie team in 2022 and was one of the league's top backup netminders this past season on the strength of a 24-6-4 record.

Despite Swayman's strong resume to date, he's behind Linus Ullmark on the Bruins' depth chart after the veteran won the Vezina Trophy and backstopped Boston to the best regular season in NHL history in 2023.

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New York Rangers veteran Chris Kreider still feels the heartbreak of his club's first-round defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils this past spring.

The Blueshirts jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, but lost four of the next five to their Metropolitan Division rivals.

"Like every guy on the team, I've got a pit in my stomach still and I expect that to turn into a bit of a chip on everyone's shoulders," Kreider told NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

"We thought we had a good group. I still think we had a good group and we should have done better. We all know that."

The Rangers loaded up for a deep run in the 2023 playoffs, acquiring Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko in separate trades. The postseason failure came one year after reaching the Eastern Conference Final and led to the firing of head coach Gerard Gallant, who was replaced by Peter Laviolette.

Kreider is optimistic that a new voice behind the bench will help the Rangers rebound in 2023-24.

"My impression is that his teams have always been very hard to play against," Kreider said. "I recently remember the Washington team, but even with some of those Nashville teams, incredibly hard to play against."

On top of the coaching change, the Rangers brought in Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Erik Gustafsson, and Jonathan Quick on one-year deals in free agency.

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