Even as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and other league officials continue to insist there's absolutely no fire, the smoke continues to billow out from under a door labelled "the NHL is coming to Las Vegas, and soon."

On Friday, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that the league is in talks with William Foley, chairman of mortgage giant Fidelity National Financial.

From the Post:

Billionaire William Foley is betting hockey will sell in Sin City . Foley is in advanced talks with the NHL about bringing the first major league sports franchise to Las Vegas, The Post has learned. “He’s the real deal,” a source said. “He has deep pockets." His goal is to bring an NHL team to Vegas starting with the 2017-18 season, which would mark the league’s 100th anniversary. If he succeeds, Foley will likely bring in others to run the team.

Foley is a multi-billionaire who has spent the past several years investing $200 million into distressed wineries on the West Coast, according to Forbes. He now owns 14 such wineries.

Brooks's report suggests that one possible scenario for bringing a team to Las Vegas by 2017-18 is for the Arizona Coyotes to relocate from Glendale, Ariz. An NHL spokesman, who otherwise declined to comment on the Post's story, described that assertion as "categorically false," and Ice Arizona CEO Anthony LeBlanc expressed a similar sentiment.