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After ‘unacceptable’ year, Doan thinks ‘urgency is going to be high’ in Arizona

Montreal Canadiens v Arizona Coyotes

Montreal Canadiens v Arizona Coyotes

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Coyotes captain Shane Doan said several times last season he wasn’t pleased with how things transpired.

Turns out his offseason message has a similar tone.

“We can’t allow what happened last year to linger and be a part of this year because that was unacceptable in so many ways,” Doan said, per the Arizona Republic. “I think the urgency is going to be high.”

The 2014-15 campaign was a largely forgettable one for the Coyotes. The team won just 24 games -- it’s lowest total in 11 years -- and traded away two key veteran presences in Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle. Those deals, especially the Yandle one, upset Doan to the point where he basically sounded off whenever he felt like it.

After the Yandle trade, he said the rebuild in Arizona was “not my idea” and “not my ideal situation.”

Not long after that, he said the situation was “kind of embarrassing,” adding “we’ve been bad.”

The critiques eventually forced GM Don Maloney to respond.

“I get it, I understand it, but we’re not in the Girl Scout business,” Maloney said, per Arizona Sports. “We’re in the business of winning. That’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re getting paid.

“Shane’s a pro, he’ll get through it, he’ll understand it when he sees where this can take us.”

All of this angst, as you’d expect, has led to talks of Doan potentially being moved. He turns 39 in October, at which time he’ll be at the start of the last of his four-year, $21.15 million deal (that carries a $5.28M cap hit.) For now, though, both sides are saying all the right things -- Maloney said “we certainly want him back,” while Doan said Arizona is the place for him.

“I definitely want to be competitive, and I want to be on a team that has a chance,” he explained. “Obviously, I want to do it here.”