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In yet another odd and unexpected twist to the Phoenix Coyotes saga, the NHL has submitted a bid to purchase the team out of bankruptcy.

In a battle playing out in bankruptcy court, the NHL has been fighting to keep the Coyotes out of the hands of Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie who wants to purchase the club for $212.5 million (U.S.) and move it to Hamilton to play out of Copps Coliseum.

The NHL is uncertain that either of the two other potential bids – one from Chicago sport mogul Jerry Reinsdorf, the other from a group of Canadian and American businessmen called Ice Edge Holdings – would win at a bankruptcy auction scheduled for Sept, 10. But if the league can purchase the team, it would be then in a position to sell it to whomever it wants outside of bankruptcy court. It is not yet not yet known what the league is offering for the team.

The league has said it wants to keep the Coyotes playing in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.

"We believe this step was necessary at this time in order to best preserve and maximize the value of the club asset for benefit of the club's creditors and for the community of Glendale," said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly in a statement.

"The bankruptcy petition and subsequent events have been incredibly damaging to the club's business, and the sooner the club can be extricated from the bankruptcy process, the sooner club personnel can begin to restore the team's vitality and local fan base. In the event the league's bid proceeds and ultimately is the one approved by the court, we intend to conduct an orderly sale process to a third party buyer outside of bankruptcy."

The Balsillie group was caught off guard by the filing.

"This obviously comes as a surprise but we look forward to seeing what the NHL's bid is," said spokesman Bill Walker. "All we've asked for since Day One when we launched our bid was a chance to get into an open auction on a level playing field with other bidders and let the best bid win. That's what the bankruptcy court process was designed to do, to maximize value for creditors."