Nashville owner Craig Leipold has sent a letter to the NHL advising it to stop considering Balsillie as a potential candidate for ownership until the sides can reach a final sale agreement.

"We did send the NHL a letter today requesting that it not do any further due diligence on Jim Balsillie's offer for the Nashville Predators until we reach a binding agreement," Leipold said in a statement on Friday. "If Jim is interested in reaching a binding agreement, we are prepared to move forward."

A league source also told CP that Leipold asked the NHL to discontinue Balsillie's application because he was caught off-guard by the Canadian billionaire's intention to relocate the franchise to Hamilton.