NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has denied reports from multiple sources, including Forbes, that the league is planning to take over the financially troubled New Jersey Devils until a buyer can be found.
"If the suggestion is we're going to take over the Devils, it's not accurate," Bettman said Thursday according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Devils are in deep debt, and reports indicate that owner Jeff Vanderbeek has received loans for over $45 million to keep the team afloat. Yesterday it came out that the cash-strapped owner of the Devils missed his first payment on a restructured bank loan and will likely be stepping down. The Devils have three options for financial freedom. The first would be to sell the team to a new owner, the second option is to let the NHL assume control of the team and the third is to declare bankruptcy.
Bettman has already put a pin in the idea of the NHL taking over the Devils like it did with the Coyotes in 2009. After enduring a long and ugly battle to find new ownership for the Coyotes, which also declared bankruptcy, and to strike a deal with the city of Glendale to keep the team there, the NHL doesn't want to have to go through the process of controlling a team again.
NHL deputy commissioner and No. 2 to Bettman, Bill Daly, echoed the commissioner's sentiments and also cleared out another option.
"I don't anticipate either the league having to take over the team, or the team having to file for bankruptcy," Daly said.
So with bankruptcy also out the window, the last option for the Devils would be to find a new owner, and luckily for the franchise there are plenty of suitors.
Reports indicate that a New Jersey lawyer, Andrew Barroway, who lent the team up to $30 million during its financial crisis, may be a candidate to buy the team though it's up in the air whether or not he'll make an offer. Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris has reportedly been looking to get into the New York/New Jersey market and has a lot of interest in buying the team as well. Harris has owned the Sixers since 2011, and is looking to branch out into another market.
The NHL is hoping to strike a deal with someone to buy the team so that the league doesn't have to take over day-to-day operations, but a deal with a potential buyer isn't imminent and there is no timetable for the completion of a deal.
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