David Shoalts of The Globe and Mail reports that Don Levin -- owner of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves -- has expressed interest in an NHL franchise for Seattle.
Levin told Shoalts that if hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen is successful in building an arena in Seattle and bringing back an NBA team, he’d be willing to get involved on the NHL front.
“If he’s successful, I’d be very happy to be involved,” Levin said. “I told [Hansen] if he has something put together I would be interested.”
Levin is the founder of D.R.L. Enterprises, a Chicago-based company that dabbles in a variety of fields including aircraft and medical equipment leasing, sports products, tobacco processing and motion picture production. Levin told Shoalts he’s had past conversations with NHL commissioner about owning an NHL team, though never in Seattle specifically.
In an email to The Globe, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed these talks.
“We have had conversations with Don Levin over the period of the last several years about his potential interest in owning an NHL franchise,” Daly said. “None of those discussions occurred recently and none have involved the Phoenix Coyotes.”
The Coyotes are the team most often linked with potential NHL relocation given their lack of ownership and issues with the city of Glendale.
It should be noted Levin isn’t the only potential owner in the mix. He said there may be another interested party located in Bellevue, Wash., that may be putting together a competing arena proposal in Seattle, though Levin declined to identify the person (or persons) involved.