The Senators may be studying the possibility of bringing their American Hockey League affiliate closer to home.

While the Senators have an agreement to keep their AHL team in Binghamton through 2018-19 and they’d be happy to stay there, the talk in AHL circles is the club is investigating relocating the franchise to the Yardman Arena in Bellevile for the 2017-18 campaign.

If that happens, the belief is the Senators would try not to leave Binghamton empty-handed because the AHL considers it a strong market. It’s quite possible another NHL team could move its affiliate to Binghamton if the Senators are successful in negotiations with the city of Belleville and a potential buyer.

The Senators wouldn’t comment when contacted.

Mayor Taso Christopher told the Belleville Intelligencer last Thursday he is negotiating with a undisclosed group to bring some level of hockey back to the rink which has been vacant since the OHL left for Hamilton in 2015.

He said in the interview he is bound by an exclusive negotiating window and non-disclosure agreement with one group that expires April 30th.

The Intelligencer said the talks have been going on since January and that Belleville city council recently agreed to give an architecture firm more than $450,000 to draw up plans for a renovation.

“Ultimately, if the two parties aren’t happy we look at our clock and say it’s over in days,” Christopher told the Intelligencer. “January is when we initiated the non-disclosure and letter of intent.

“We’re still at the conditional stage trying to satisfy everybody’s appetite.”

There are a lot of moving parts here.

The biggest stumbling block to get a deal in place would be Belleville city council’s approval of millions of dollars in renovations to the arena.

The belief is the Senators aren’t unhappy in Binghamton and wouldn’t consider moving anywhere other than Belleville. Some reports have indicated there are a couple of groups involved but Christopher said he couldn’t confirm which group he has been involved in serious discussions with.

“I can’t,” he told the newspaper. “It’s so complex.

“When we were coming to the end of March 31 both parties agreed that we were engaged in good conversation, so let’s extend it (to April 30th) so we don’t lose the momentum.”

Though Binghamton is an excellent location for the Senators to hone their prospects, Belleville would be a strong as well because it’s located under three hours from Ottawa by car with no border to cross and hockey fans there receive TSN’s 50-plus regional broadcasts of the Senators.

Be cautioned, though, this deal is far from done and would need approval of the AHL’s board of governors. It’s not known who would purchase the Binghamton team to move it to Belleville or what team is interested in moving its affiliate to Binghamton.

The Senators, of course, wouldn’t be the first NHL team to move their prospects closer to home. The AHL’s Toronto Marlies play at the Ricoh Coliseum which is only a slapshot away from the Air Canada Centre down Lakeshore Drive while the Manitoba Moose share the MTS Centre with the Winnipeg Jets.

The Montreal Canadiens, who currently have their farm team in St. John’s, are building a rink in nearby Laval that’s going to house their affiliate in 2017-18. The Arizona Coyotes just purchased their AHL affiliate in Springfield, Mass. and are moving the franchise to Tuscon, a couple of hours by car from Glendale.

Last year, the AHL set up a Pacific Division in California with affiliates of the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

The point is, if this happens, it’s not exactly out of the ordinary.

The AHL governors likely wouldn’t stand in the way of this move because of the proximity of Belleville to the Canada-United States border along with other AHL franchises. It would be an easy drive for the Senators’ prospects to Toronto, Rochester, Utica, Albany, Syracuse and Binghamton, for that matter.

Belleville makes sense for the Senators because the city has a long history with junior hockey and if the right upgrades _ which currently has an Olympic-sized ice surface _ are made to the arena there should be enough support in the region of approximately 100,000 to make the franchise a success.

Deals like this are complicated and the city has to do its part by spending the money to make the arena playable. If that happens and all the other parts come together, the Senators wouldn’t have to reach far to call up a player.

Like anything else, though, this deal is complicated and needs work to become reality.