The Coyotes are "in the process of reshuffling their ownership group, a move that would demote" Majority Owner & Chair Andrew Barroway "from his majority role less than six months after he purchased a controlling interest in the club," according to Sarah McLellan of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc said, "Upon completion of an agreement, Andrew Barroway will remain the largest shareholder and Governor of the Arizona Coyotes." A source said that the ownership group has "been working on this potential shift for some time," and the change was "met by a group consensus." The source added that current members of IceArizona are "poised to buy back some of Barroway's shares," and the transition "could be finalized soon." Barroway purchased a 51% majority of the franchise Dec. 31 for $152.5M "after a nearly two-month negotiation." Since then, Barroway had "taken on a largely behind-the-scenes role with the team as he continued to be based on the East Coast while being the managing partner" of Pennsylvania-based Merion Investment Management. Despite the club's current conflict with the city of Glendale, it has said that it "won't alter its budget for offseason spending" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/16). TSN's Rick Westhead reports Barroway's stake "will be reduced, if NHL approves, to about 30%" (TWITTER.com, 6/16). ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun cited sources as saying that the "expectation" is that some of Barroway's shares will "be purchased by existing members of the Coyotes' ownership group, Gary Drummond and Dave Duckett" (ESPN.com, 6/15).
STAYING POWER: In Phoenix, Peter Corbett in a front-page piece notes the Glendale City Council today is scheduled to meet "in a closed-door session" to "consult with the city attorney and consider its position on agreements" for Gila River Arena and with the Coyotes. Council member Gary Sherwood said that the body "could either proceed with sending a letter to the Coyotes to terminate its agreement or back off of its decision, perhaps saying it got bad legal advice or had learned new information." This comes as four members who last week voted to rescind the $225M arena lease deal are being "targeted for recall" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/16). TSN's Westhead tweeted, "Coyotes believe city attorney Michael Bailey has given bad advice to council and that councillors will overturn their own vote today" (TWITTER.com, 6/16).
