Jim Balsillie, potential new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, is making all the necessary moves to comply with NHL bylaws regarding new ownership, as well as relocation.

On Monday, Balsillie filed an application with the NHL to relocate the franchise to Hamilton. Today, through his spokesperson Bill Walker, he announced that he would be willing to keep the franchise in Phoenix one more season if there will not be time to relocate for the start of the 2009-10 season. “The NHL has raised some issues with scheduling that could be problematic, and we wanted to remove that impediment to Mr. Balsillie’s offer to purchase being successful,” Walker said.

Balsillie has even gone so far as to say he still supports the idea of an auction sale. Of course, there probably wouldn’t be many groups that would be willing to outbid his already high offer of $212 million for the Coyotes.

I think there are two parts to this sudden change in compliance by Balsillie. First, he realizes that he probably won’t get anywhere with strongarm tactics against the NHL owners. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to deny any relocation request against someone forcing their hand. Plus, Balsillie needs to come across as being more open-minded and accepting of any NHL decision instead of shooting from the hip.

Second, I think that Gary Bettman might be feeling pressure from some of the owners. It’s in the NHL’s best interest to have all their teams on solid financial footing, and Bettman’s stance has bordered on anti-Canadian. He has come forth and refuted this in recent interviews, but one can’t but feel his rhetoric rings rather hollow given his penchant to try and save teams like Phoenix, when it appears he didn’t do quite as much when Winnipeg and Quebec City had their troubles. “From my standpoint, it’s not personal,” said Bettman. “It’s about league rules and it’s about doing the right thing in terms of the stability of this game and this league.”

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