Another day, another scheduled arbitration hearing avoided.
According to multiple reports, defenseman Michael Stone and the Arizona Coyotes have settled on a one-year, $4 million deal, well ahead of their scheduled arbitration hearing set for Aug. 4.
Stone, 26, was a restricted free agent coming off a three-year contract with an AAV of $1.15 million.
Last season in Arizona, he hit new career highs in points with 36 and assists with 30. He also logged some heavy minutes, playing more than 22 minutes per game, which was second behind only Oliver Ekman-Larsson. That includes being used on both the power play and penalty kill.
Just more work done for the Coyotes on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, they announced they had signed defenseman Connor Murphy to a six-year contract extension, worth a total of $23.1 million.
Tobias Rieder is now the lone unsigned Coyotes RFA, as detailed yesterday.
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) July 28, 2016
Related: Coyotes’ defensive makeover continues with Luke Schenn signing