On the Arizona Coyotes …
Dave Vest: Forward Shane Doan on his future: “I truly haven’t made up my mind…If I had made up my mind it would be a pretty emotional night & I didn’t want that”
Dave Vest: Doan on his future: “2 weeks ago, there was no way I was retiring. 5 days ago, I definitely was. 2 days ago, I definitely wasn’t.”
Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: Doan on his future.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “I truly wish I did. It would make everything so much easier to be able to give a definitive answer, but I don’t know.
“I think there’s a chance I come back and play. There’s a chance I don’t. I think last year, at the end of the year, I was pretty sure I was coming back. And this year, it’s not near as sure. But at the same time, there’s still a large part of me that wants to.”
Doan said he hasn’t spoken with the Coyotes on if they want him back or not. The Coyotes will have their exit interviews on Monday and GM John Chayka said they will make a decision on him after they talk with Doan.
“I just want to have a discussion with Shane to see where he’s at more so than anything,” Chayka said. “I think I want him to be a Coyote. There’s no doubt about that. I think he has a lot to offer whether it’s on or off the ice. That’s kind of my mindset with things. But again, I don’t have all the information of where he’s at to even let you know where my mind stands on that.”
Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports: The Coyotes need to let their young kids grow and to continue to add to their farm system. They should look for some “quality NHL players to accelerate the process.” They should look at add “live bodies” and not another offseason of acquiring salary cap hits (ie Pavel Datsyuk and Dave Bolland).
The Coyotes need a top-pairing defensive partner for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and they could use a No. 1 center.
Free Agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk appears to want to sign with the NY Rangers.
The Anaheim Ducks may have too many defenseman to protect for the expansion draft and they may want to move one.
If the NY Islanders and John Tavares can’t come work out a deal, the Coyotes need to go all in. The Rangers could look to move Derek Stepan this offseason, same with the Oilers and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.