Another deadline has arrived for Shane Doan and the Phoenix Coyotes, and this time, it's looking as if the Coyotes captain is on the verge of deciding not to go down with the ship.
According to a report by Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic, Doan is scheduled to speak by phone on Friday with potential Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison to get an update on where the former San Jose Sharks executive stands in his efforts to buy the team from the NHL (which bought the team out of bankruptcy proceedings three years ago). If Doan doesn't get the kind of news he wants to hear from Jamison, he has prepared a list of teams he would be interested in joining.
That list is likely to include both the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers, the teams that Doan met with last weekend while he was in New York as part of the collective bargaining negotiations between the NHL and the NHL Players Association, and agent Terry Bross has indicated that Doan will be likely to talk with the Pittsburgh Penguins as well. Whatever happens, barring a return to the Coyotes - the only franchise Doan has ever played for - expect this to be a case of the rich getting richer.
If Doan does decide to leave the desert, chances are that it will be for a chance to win a Stanley Cup. Doan will command a good salary on the open market - probably a little less than the $7 million Alexander Semin is getting from the Carolina Hurricanes - but not so much that the Coyotes couldn't afford to pay him the same sum even if they remain the wards of the league. If Doan goes, it will be because the Coyotes won't have the financial wherewithal to put together a team that can contend for the Stanley Cup, as they did this year when they won the Pacific Division and advanced to the Western Conference finals before falling to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings.
That could be bad news for the Flyers, who have struck out on every major move they've been linked to this summer, and have had a particularly tough week with the Rangers landing Rick Nash in a trade and the Nashville Predators matching Philadelphia's offer sheet to Shea Weber. The Penguins haven't had a huge offseason either - former Winnipeg Jets winger Tanner Glass is probably the team's most significant addition after the Pens missed out on Zach Parise - but they did lock up Sidney Crosby to a 12-year contract extension, get solid return value in their trade of Jordan Staal, and maintain their position as a top contender in the Eastern Conference. Assuming a full season of health from Crosby, the Penguins could be as attractive as a destination for Doan as the Rangers.
Bross has said that if Doan does decide to leave Phoenix, a deal could be done as early as next week. With that in mind, the hockey world will be watching and waiting as Jamison and the Coyotes are on the clock.
