Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Michael Stone

Roster Crunch: Arizona’s Defense Corps

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With training camps well underway, there are plenty of interesting battles for roster spots throughout the league.  One of the more intriguing ones is happening in Arizona as the Coyotes now find themselves with a plethora of defensemen battling for a spot on their back end.  Here’s a closer look at their blueline battle.

Locks

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – He is undoubtedly their number one defenseman and will be used in all situations.  He’s also on a cap friendly deal for a top rearguard coming in with an AAV of just $5.5MM for the next three years.

Alex Goligoski – New GM John Chayka wasted little time with the former Dallas Star.  He acquired his negotiating rights and quickly inked him to a five year, $27.375MM contract to be another anchor for their back end.

Connor Murphy – The former first rounder has seen his ice time increase each season and he surpassed the 20 minute average last year.  He also signed a long-term deal this offseason, getting an average of $3.85MM over the next six years.

Zbynek Michalek – After rejoining the Coyotes last offseason, Michalek spent most of the year in a third pairing role, one he’s likely to reprise this season.  While he could potentially be deemed expendable, he carries a cap hit of $3.2MM which may be difficult to unload in the current market and it’s unlikely that they would bury his contract in the minors given their status as a low-budget team.

Luke Schenn – Chayka brought the 26 year old in on a two year deal this offseason with a decent value at $1.25MM per year.  While he projects as a third pairing player, it’s unlikely he’s going to get pushed off the roster so quickly after signing with the team.

Michael Stone – Stone had a career year last season and spent a lot of time on Arizona’s top pairing.  While he may not have as big of a role this year, he’s a sure fire bet to start in their top four.

That’s six blueliners that are pretty much locks to start the season with the Coyotes, leaving them one or two (at most) spots to fill from a group of six other defensemen who could conceivably make a run at one of those positions.

Read more

West Notes: Hanzal, Stone, Malhotra

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Coyotes are planning to discuss a contract extension with center Martin Hanzal in the coming weeks, Sarah McLellan of AZ Central reports.  GM John Chayka noted that they plan to sit down with Hanzal’s representatives before training camp gets underway later this month.

Hanzal has spent his entire nine year career with the Coyotes.  He had a career year offensively last season, scoring 13 goals and 28 assists in just 64 games, setting career highs in both assists and points in the process.  He also won an impressive 56% of his faceoffs, putting him in a tie for 15th league wide amongst players who took at least 300 draws last season.

The 29 year old is entering the final season of a five year deal that carries a cap hit of $3.1MM with a salary of $3.5MM for 2016-17 and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July.

Hanzal is likely to begin next season in a top six role and a repeat of his 2015-16 campaign would have him in line for a sizable raise should he make it to the open market next offseason.

[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]

Elsewhere in the West:

  • More from McLellan, Arizona blueliner Michael Stone has begun skating after having surgery to repair his left ACL and MCL back in April. He isn’t yet to participate in any informal scrimmages but is still hoping to be ready for their season opener on October 15th.  Stone is coming off a career year, recording 36 points in 75 games last season which earned him a one year, $4MM deal this offseason.  Like Hanzal, Stone is also eligible to become a UFA in July although the team can’t sign him to any extension until January 1st at the earliest.
  • Fresh off his retirement, Manny Malhotra is looking to get into coaching, writes Jeff Paterson of the Vancouver Province. Malhotra noted earlier this offseason that a couple of teams had reached out to them; one of those is the Vancouver Canucks.  Malhotra spent parts of three seasons with Vancouver from 2010-11 to 2012-13.  GM Jim Benning acknowledged that they are in talks with Malhotra, telling Paterson that, “He was a good player for the team for a number of years, and he’s a guy who had a special set of gifts that he offered on faceoffs and penalty killing.  He was a good leader on those teams that were successful. So we’re currently looking into seeing if there is a fit with our organization.”  

Coyotes Sign Jakob Chychrun To Entry Level Contract

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Craig Morgan of AZSports tweeted that the Arizona Coyotes have inked the second of their two, 2016 first-round draft choices, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, to a three-year ELC. Chychrun, selected 16th overall in last month’s draft, likely has only an outside chance at cracking the Coyotes roster on opening night as the club already has eight blue liners with NHL experience under contract. It’s far more likely the team will elect to return him to his junior club for more seasoning.

Originally slated to select 20th overall, the Coyotes moved up four slots in a deal with Detroit that also saw Arizona absorb Pavel Datyuk’s $7.5MM cap charge. The trade allowed the Wings to clear significant cap space from their books while moving back just a few positions in the draft. Detroit also picked up a second-round choice, 53rd overall, which the team used on defenseman Filip Hronek. Meanwhile, Arizona put themselves in position to take a player they liked tremendously and had even considered drafting with the seventh overall selection.

Chychrun played his junior hockey with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. In 62 OHL contests, Chychrun tallied 49 points and boasted a +23 plus-minus rating. His father, Jeff, appeared in 262 NHL games, spending time with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Pittsburgh in a career spanning parts of eight seasons.

First year GM John Chayka has been among the league’s busiest executives this summer. Chayka added D Alex Goligoski via trade and LW Jamie McGinn and D Luke Schenn as free agents to bolster a young but talented roster. He also re-signed team captain Shane Doan and restricted free agent defenders Michael Stone and Connor Murphy to new contracts. Whether these additions will help get the Coyotes back into the postseason or not remains to be seen but Chayka has shown he is unafraid to make impact moves so far.

Snapshots: NHLPA, Boston’s Prospects, Murphy

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Ian McLaren writes that the NHLPA has hired Bruce Meyer as the senior director of collective bargaining, policy, and legal. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr commented that the hiring brings someone in who has over three decades of legal experience. The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on September 15, 2022. However, the league or the player’s union can opt out of the current early, just at different dates. As long as it is delivered in writing, the NHL can opt out on September 1, 2019. The NHLPA can opt out on September 15, 2019.

The addition of Meyer brings more talent into the NHLPA’s fold  as many analysts felt the NHL “won” the last round of labor war. There have been work stoppages in each of the last three negotiations which included an entire season wiped out in 2004-05. Both the 1994-95 and 2012-13 were shortened as a result of the league and player’s union’s negotiations.

In other NHL news:

  • Joe Haggerty writes that prospects Ryan Donato and Ryan Fitzgerald are on their way in terms of development. Both are currently playing college hockey, Donato with Harvard and Fitzgerald with Boston College. While Donato is entering his sophomore season that is full of promise, Fitzgerald is gearing up for what will be his final season playing college hockey. Haggerty reports that Fitzgerald, coming off a 47 point (27-20) campaign in 2015-16, seems to be saying the right things in terms of joining the Bruins upon graduation. However, as Haggerty points out, anything is possible should Fitzgerald have a dominant senior season.
  • Sarah McLellan reports that with the signings of Connor Murphy and Michael Stone, the defensive corps are all but solidified. Though McLellan points out more moves could happen, she writes that the Coyotes are happy with the long term deal with Murphy, who appeared to take the next step in his development last season. Stone, who suffered a season ending knee injury, expressed his desire to put in the work to earn a long term deal down the road.

Arizona Coyotes Depth Chart

Boston Bruins Depth Chart

 

Arizona Stays Busy, Lock Up Stone To One-Year Deal

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Immediately on the heels of the Connor Murphy signing, the Arizona Coyotes have inked fellow blue liner Michael Stone to a one-year, $4MM contract, according to AZSports’ Craig Morgan. Stone and the Coyotes had been scheduled to go to arbitration on August 4th but the two parties obviously found common ground and thus avoided a hearing.

Stone blossomed in his fourth full season in the desert, averaging nearly 22:30 of ice time per game. He ranked second among Arizona defensemen behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson, tallying 36 points in 2015-16. The Coyotes drafted the 26-year-old in the third-round (69th overall) of the 2008 draft.

After accounting for Stone’s deal, Arizona is left with more than $6MM in cap space and only RFA Tobias Rieder left unsigned. That figure is a bit surprising given how busy the Coyotes have been this summer upgrading their roster. In addition to locking up their own RFA’s, Arizona has re-upped with Shane Doan (one-year, $3.88MM), signed UFA winger Jamie McGinn to a multi-year deal worth $10MM over three seasons, and acquired pending free agent Alex Goligoski via trade before extending his contract for five years with an AAV of nearly $5.5MM. That doesn’t even include Pavel Datsyuk’s $7.5MM cap hit which Arizona absorbed as part of a deal to move up four slots in the first round of the recent draft. To still be $6MM under the cap ceiling is an impressive bit of work from John Chayka.

Given the offseason work and the young talent already on the roster, it’s conceivable the Coyotes could force their way into a playoff spot in 2016-17. That’s especially true if goaltender Mike Smith, who missed three months of action last season due to a core muscle injury, returns to form as a quality netminder.

 

 

Latest On Connor Murphy

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While news has started trickling out about the Coyotes’ inability to sign RFA Tobias Rieder, Arizona may be closing in on one of their other remaining unsigned players. Craig Morgan of AZSports reports that Brian Bartlett, the agent for restricted free agent Connor Murphy expects to have a deal done by the end of the week.

Murphy, 23, saw his role with the Coyotes improve drastically last season especially following the trade of Keith Yandle. After the trade, he logged over 22:30 per night (up from 19:50 pre-trade) and held his own against tougher opponents. The bone-crushing hitter isn’t an offensive or possession dynamo, though he did contribute 17 points last season, and saw some limited powerplay action.

Even with the addition of Luke Schenn, Murphy will probably slot in beside another newcomer in Alex Goligoski on the second pairing next season, with fellow unsigned RFA Michael Stone skating alongside superstar Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Obviously, these pairings will be settled in camp, but Murphy will try to continue his strong development from first-round pick (20th overall in 2011) to top-four defenseman.

Arbitration Tracker

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Ten days ago, the NHLPA released the schedule for player and team-elected arbitration hearings. Since then, four hearing dates have come and gone with no hearings, with eight players agreeing to contracts to avoid the unpleasant process.

Here’s an updated list of all 24 players who were scheduled for an arbitration hearing:

Player Elected Filings:

Arizona Coyotes
Michael Stone – Stone and the tough-negotiating Coyotes have a hearing set for August 4.

Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie – Hearing set for July 29. Barrie has been the subject of near-constant trade rumors this summer.
Mikhail Grigorenko – Agreed to a one-year, $1.3MM contract on July 20, just two days before the scheduled hearing.

Detroit Red Wings
Jared Coreau – Agreed to a two-year, $1.25MM contract on July 6, well before any hearings were scheduled.
Danny DeKeyser – Signed a six-year deal on July 26th, locking him up long-term for the Red Wings.

Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder – The Wild signed Schroeder to a one-year, two-way deal on July 23rd worth $675K in the NHL and $275K in the AHL.

Nashville Predators
Petter Granberg – Signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $575K / $175K (300K guaranteed) in the first year, and $650K / $175K in the second.
Calle Jarnkrok – Signed a six-year, $12MM deal July 27th.

New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes – Signed a two-year, $5.2MM deal Friday afternoon, hours after Kreider.
Chris Kreider – The Rangers and Kreider agreed to a four-year, $18.5MM contract Friday morning, beating the scheduled 9am arbitration meeting.
Dylan McIlrath – The massive defender signed a one-year, $800k contract last week, beating his hearing by a week.
J.T. Miller – World Cup-bound Miller and the Rangers settled on a two-year, $2.75MM contract on July 13.

Ottawa Senators
Mike Hoffman – After a long negotiation, the Senators and Hoffman agreed to a four-year, $20.75MM deal on July 27th.

Philadelphia Flyers
Brandon Manning – Manning got an unexpected second year in his two-year, $1.95MM deal he signed on July 26th.
Brayden Schenn – Schenn and the Flyers agreed to a four-year deal worth $5.125MM AAV.
Jordan Weal – Acquired by the Flyers in the Vincent Lecavalier trade, Weal signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract the day the arbitration schedule was released.

St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – The Blues signed their young star to a five-year, $5.5MM contract last week.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Killorn – The clutch playoff performer signed a long-term extension over the weekend, agreeing to $4.45MM per year for seven seasons.
Vladislav Namestnikov – World Cup-bound forward signed a two-year deal worth $1.9375MM on July 26th, three days before arbitration hearing.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Frank Corrado – Toronto signed Corrado to a one-year, one-way deal worth $600K on July 25.
Peter Holland – Holland signed a one-year deal worth $1.3MM on July 25.
Martin Marincin – The promising young shut-down defenseman is scheduled for arbitration on August 2.

Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson – Johansson agreed to a three-year, $4.58MM contract just minutes before his hearing was set to begin.

CLUB ELECTED FILINGS:

Detroit Red Wings
Petr Mrazek – Just before his hearing on July 27th, Mrazek and the Red Wings inked a two-year, $8MM deal. With Jimmy Howard still earning $5.3MM for next season, the duo is one of the more expensive in the league.

We’ve previously explained the arbitration process as part of our Capology 101 series. Check out our Mike Furlano’s articles on eligibility and the arbitration process.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top