- Craig Morgan of FOX Sports Arizona: The Coyotes and Mikkel Boedker settled on a one-year, $3.75 million deal earlier this offseason. Coyotes GM Don Maloney said that Boedker’s health and untapped potential helped lead to a one-year deal over a longer-term contract. Boedker’s camp said that teams arena lease situation and the what the Coyotes were offering (money and term) were also factors in going with a one-year deal. Boedker had two offers from the Coyotes this offseason.
“There was another contract that was on the table and we looked at them both and this one made the most sense for me,” he said. “It’s a difficult situation when the negotiation goes that long, but when the final decision was made it had nothing to do with where the team was going to play, whether it was in Scottsdale or downtown or in Glendale. It was the best situation for me going forward.”
Boedker will be an unrestricted free agent after this season and could get $5 million on the open market according to his agent.
Two sources said that the Coyotes could have signed Boedker to a five-year contract two years ago with a salary cap hit around $3.2 million, but GM Maloney wasn’t willing to commit to the deal due to Boedker’s unproven work and with the transition to new ownership. The two sides aren’t able to to sign an extension until the new year. Boedker has said that he’s open to remaining in Arizona.
“I’m open for anything,” he said. “It obviously puts a lot of pressure on me this season but I think it’s their turn to show what I mean to the team. In some ways, it will be interesting to see, but I have to perform on the ice.
“It doesn’t help if I’m just another guy on the ice. You have to prove that you are something important for the team. I’m hoping to come back stronger than ever and make an impact.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Senators could have talks with a few players about training camp tryouts, which could include winger Martin Havlat. The Senators didn’t sign any big name free agents as they expect some of their minor-league players to push for a spot. Senators assistant GM Pierre Dorion confirmed that GM Bryan Murray has spoken with Havlat’s agent Allan Walsh.
“When Bryan coached he was one of Bryan’s favourite players,” Dorion said. “If I remember correctly, Bryan used (Havlat) on the p.k. and if I remember correctly that had never happened and he was a good penalty killer.
“Obviously Marty is not the same player he was five years ago but it’s something I know Bryan and Allan have discussed.”
- Ansar Khan of MLive: This could be Kyle Quincey’s final season with the Red Wings. He’ll be a UFA after the season, and the Wings have younger, cheaper options in Alexey Marchenko, Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen and Ryan Sproul. The Wings usually don’t trade pending UFAs if they are in playoff contention, but they could look at moving Quincey mid-season.