The Arizona Coyotes will retire the first number in the history of their franchise when they raise Shane Doan’s #19 sweater to the rafters this season. The ceremony will take place on February 24th, fittingly against the Winnipeg Jets where Doan started his career. Doan’s Jets turned into the Coyotes after just one season in Winnipeg, and he would spend the next two decades growing the game of hockey in an extremely non-traditional market.
His influence on the Coyotes was obvious, recording 972 points in 1,540 career games and serving as captain for more than a dozen seasons, but his legacy may best be remembered by the players that come after him. Auston Matthews is already a star in the NHL, and credits Doan as one of the biggest reasons he wanted to become a hockey player in the first place.
- Craig Custance of The Athletic tweets that there is no contract imminent between the Vegas Golden Knights and restricted free agent William Karlsson, meaning his August 4th arbitration hearing is still scheduled. Karlsson is an incredibly difficult case to handicap, after exploding for 43 goals and 78 points this season despite scoring just 15 and 45 over his first two NHL seasons. The Golden Knights have already handed out several long-term contracts to players they deem core pieces, and could still work something out with Karlsson over the next few days.
- Adrian Dater of BSN Denver reports (subscription required) that the Colorado Avalanche will announce a settlement with Patrik Nemeth today, avoiding his arbitration hearing on Saturday. Nemeth was one of just three players left with a hearing on the books after Cody Ceci and Gemel Smith met with the arbitrator today, though was still outside the period where a salary ask was required to be submitted. After finding himself in an increased role with the Avalanche this season, Nemeth recorded 15 points in 68 games and was a key part of their penalty kill.