Though discussions of a lease extension remain unsettled, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will have to inform the AHL of their plans for the 2019-20 season next week.
The Penguins are playing the 2018-19 season at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza under a lease that expires on June 30. Both the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins–owner of the AHL’s Penguins–have indicated in recent months and continue to state that negotiations are progressing, but a finalized lease extension has not been announced.
There have been no public details on those negotiations, but it has been learned that the Penguins must inform the AHL of their intentions for the 2019-20 season early next week. That deadline coincides with Monday’s AHL Board of Governors meeting in Chicago. More from the Times Leader:
As the Luzerne County Arena Authority Board continues to negotiate a new deal with the Penguins’ parent organization in Pittsburgh, the American Hockey League’s Board of Governors will meet on Monday in Chicago to discuss, among other issues, where each member franchise will be playing in 2019-20.
Jason Chaimovitch, the AHL’s vice president of communications, said Wednesday that each team must declare their intentions on where they will play the coming season at the meeting, or they must request relocation of the franchise.
“At the spring meeting, all teams must declare their intentions to be members of the AHL and where they will be playing next season,” Chaimovitch said.
When asked if Pittsburgh has submitted a request for relocation of its Wilkes-Barre/Scranton franchise, Chaimovitch said, “I don’t believe so.”
The Penguins have played at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza since it opened in 1999.
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