from Sean Gentile of The Sporting News,

... we now have two sourced reports that an eventual Las Vegas team (Let's go Craps!) is "a done deal." The first came from the Vancouver Province's Tony Gallagher earlier this week. That's why we're talking about this at all.

The second came from Dan Patrick on Thursday morning. Patrick, who does TV work for NBC and hosts a national radio show, cited "a financial person who is in involved" with the process and told him there'd be a team in Vegas in 2016: "The paperwork's already done. It is, as has been reported, a done deal."

Patrick raised the question over whether the still-theoretical team would be an expansion franchise or a relocated one. He mentioned the Arizona Coyotes, which is par for the course, but the team's new ownership group has said, constantly, that they're committed to the market long-term, five-year out clause notwithstanding. Several recent long-term sponsorship deals back that up.

The other team Patrick mentioned, per his source: the Carolina Hurricanes. Owner Peter Karmanos is looking to sell for an "exorbitant amount,' according to Patrick, so he said the end result could be a Vegas move.

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