For the fourth time in 11 years, the Portland Pirates will be changing their National Hockey League affiliation.

“Our situation in Portland is finished this year,” said Arizona Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney at a question-and-answer session with season ticket holders Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. “We have something very good we’re looking at now and that will evolve over the next month or so.”

Karoline Zacharer, director of media relations for the Pirates, confirmed Sunday there will be an affiliation change and said an announcement could come as early as this week.

Messages left with Brad Church, the Pirates’ chief operating officer, were not returned.

This is the fourth season the Pirates have been affiliated with Arizona. They paired with Buffalo Sabres from 2008 to 2011 and with Anaheim Ducks from 2005 to 2008.

For the first 12 years of franchise history, the Pirates were affiliated with the Washington Capitals.

Pirates management has stated previously that it’s confident of AHL hockey remaining in Portland.

When the subject of affiliations came up last year, Church said the Pirates “are in a good place. With a (refurbished) building downtown and the practice and training facility in Saco, we’re a top destination for any NHL club to house their prospects.”

Ron Cain, who became majority owner of the Pirates last season, has said he’s not worried if the Arizona affilation were to be severed: “We’re not concerned at all that if that happens, that we’ll get another top-end affiliate here. It’s a great market. Everybody recognizes it.”

This has been a season of upheaval for the AHL, which plans to add a Pacific Division in 2015-16. Seven of the 30 franchises will not operate in the same AHL city next season.

Starting next fall, five NHL teams will shift their top farm clubs to California and pull up roots in Manchester, New Hampshire; Worcester, Massachusetts; Norfolk, Virginia; Glens Falls, New York; and Oklahoma City. Last week, the AHL announced that Montreal’s top farm club in Hamilton, Ontario, will move to St. John’s, Newfoundland, replacing a Winnipeg affiliate bound for Manitoba.

Affiliations expire this spring not only in Portland but in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with the Washington Capitals; in San Antonio, Texas, with the Florida Panthers; and in Albany, New York, with the New Jersey Devils.

In Hartford, Connecticut, problems with the aging XL Center (formerly the Harford Civic Center) may imperil the agreement between the AHL Wolf Pack and parent New York Rangers, which runs through next season.

The Madison Square Garden Company operates both the Rangers and the Wolf Pack.

Wherever the Coyotes land next season may only be a temporary stopover.

“Ultimately,” Maloney said Saturday, “we do want to bring our No. 1 affiliate west. Right now, we are just looking at some alternatives.”

After failing to make the playoffs in two of the three previous seasons as a Coyotes affiliate, the Pirates are riding a seven-game winning streak and boast 74 points, good for sixth place in the AHL’s Eastern Conference. With a win last night, Hartford tied Portland in points, but the Pirates have two more victories and a game in hand.

The top eight from each conference qualify for playoffs. Portland is three points behind fifth-place Providence and four behind fourth-place Wilkes-Barre.

“Between fourth and 10th there’s not many points,” said Pirates Coach Ray Edwards, referring to the 12-point gap between Wilkes-Barre and St. John’s after Saturday’s games. “You have a bad week and it can really change. We’ve just got to find ways to get points.”

Ten of Portland’s final 15 games are at the Cross Insurance Arena. Three games remain in Manchester and one each in Springfield and Worcester.

“There’s no layups there,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be a grind just to get in.”