NHL News: Coyotes deny reports that team is for sale; Sabres acquire goalie Malcolm Subban
The Arizona Coyotes are denying a Forbes.com report that claims the franchise is for sale and could relocate to Houston.
“This is false,” the team said in a statement released Thursday. “Totally false. We’re not selling. We’re not moving. The Coyotes are 100 percent committed to playing in Arizona.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called the Forbes report “completely false.”
Coyotes looking to stay in Arizona
The future of the Coyotes in Arizona has been murky since August, when officials from the City of Glendale decided not to renew the operating agreement for Gila Rivera Arena following this season.
The Coyotes have to vacate the arena by June 30, 2022. The team is searching for a temporary home as it pursues a proposed $1.7 billion development in Tempe.
The Coyotes began playing in Glendale during the 2003-04 season.
The Phoenix suburb is also home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
Sabres trade for Malcolm Subban
The Buffalo Sabres have acquired goalie Malcolm Subban from the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday in exchange for future considerations.
Subban, 27, has not played in an NHL game this season and is in the final year of a two-year, $1.7 million deal signed in October 2020.
Subban has gone 2-2-1 this season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, posting an .893 save percentage and 3.38 goals-against average.
He was 6-8-1 with a .900 save percentage, a 3.20 GAA and two shutouts in 16 games (14 starts) with the Blackhawks in 2020-21.
A first-round pick by Boston in 2012, Subban has a career record of 36-31-8 with a .899 save percentage, a 3.02 GAA and three shutouts in 82 games (74 starts) with the Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Blackhawks.
The Sabres, who are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, have rotated three netminders this season.
Dustin Tokarski is 4-5-3 with a .903 save percentage and 3.28 GAA. Craig Anderson is 4-2-0 with a .921 save percentage and 2.50 GAA, but the 40-year-old has not played since Nov. 2 due to an upper-body injury. Aaron Dell is 0-4-0 with an .862 save percentage and 4.56 GAA.
–Field Level Media