Rumor: Coyotes facing massive $5 million fine from the NHL.

The Arizona Coyotes have been the laughing stock of the National Hockey League for far too long now. For season after season the Coyotes have been a financial burden on the NHL, so much so that the league itself was forced to take control of the team at one point, failing to draw in large crowds from the local area and failing to generate fan interest overall.

Things finally seemed to take a positive turn for the Coyotes however when they were recently purchased by billionaire owner Alex Meruelo, a man that many believe will finally bring some financially stability to the organization. Unfortunately for the Coyotes however it now sounds like the start of Meruelo's tenure as the organizations owner may kick off with a major scandal, one that may have been absolutely no fault of Meruelo's own. The Coyotes now stand accused of physically testing daft eligible players prior to the National Hockey League's own scouting combine, a practice that is strictly forbidden by the league itself and one that carries a massive penalty of a $250,000 fine. Of course none of this is old news and we have been aware of an ongoing investigation on the part of the NHL for over a week now, however new information revealed on Saturday paints this situation in a much darker light for the Coyotes. 

According to a report from TSN National Hockey League insider Darren Dreger just earlier this morning, it now appears as though this was not some type of isolated incident on the part of the Coyotes. Citing a source within the NHL Dreger revealed that there is now a belief that a massive number of these infractions took place, and that could mean major trouble for the Coyotes.

"Sources say it’s believed there are at least 20 incidents of the Arizona Coyotes fitness testing draft eligible players," said Dreger. "NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly and NHL lawyers are now managing the case."

That number "20" is a very important number indeed. You see the aforementioned penalty of $250,000 is a minimum dollar value and is assessed for each individual infraction. That would mean that if found guilty of these violations by the league that the Coyotes, and by extension their new owners, would be looking at a gigantic fine somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million. That of course would be terrible for a team that has historically struggled to make money.