In an NHL offseason that has seen a new franchise join the league and the Arizona Coyotes embrace sole ownership, more changes could be coming at the top for another team.
Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said through a statement Thursday that he has received and is considering an offer to sell the team.
"Since an offer has been made to purchase the team," the statement read, according to NHL.com, "Mr. Karmanos intends to evaluate that offer and also will continue to evaluate his other options, including retaining his ownership of the team."
Translation: Nothing is off-limits. And the Hurricanes could soon have a new leader.
WRAL-TV suggests the potential transition is more like a done deal, reporting that former Texas Rangers co-owner and CEO Chuck Greenberg headlined a group that bid $500 million for the Hurricanes, who "would remain in Raleigh" but are virtually out of Karmanos' hands after the owner "signed a letter of intent to sell."
According to the sources on the sale, Karmanos' partners, a group of local investors who have a minority stake in the team, would have the option to participate in any new ownership.
Karmanos purchased the Hurricanes as the Hartford Whalers in 1994, then moved the team to North Carolina in 1997.
Thirteen years into the franchise's stint in Carolina, Karmanos went on record to say, "We'd have to be idiots to move from here," according to ESPN, but it appears a sale could very well be in the works just two years later.
