Unrestricted free agent Shane Doan has played 20 seasons with one franchise and it sounds like a 21st season is a real possibility.
According to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, the Coyotes and Doan are close to agreeing on a brand new contract extension. Doan was the only player on the Coyotes’ roster who was around in Winnipeg before the team moved to Arizona.
Considering his advanced age, the 39-year-old had a strong 2015-16 campaign. He found the back of the net 28 times and finished with 47 points in 72 games last season.
If you have Shane Doan on your UFA list...don't bother...hearing new deal in Arizona is close. Not going anywhere.#SigningSeason
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) July 2, 2016
Coyotes GM John Chayka hasn’t been shy about bringing up the possibility of having Doan back.
“Shane is so passionate about our team and our roster,” Chayka said, per AZ Central. “He’s excited to see some of the things we’re doing. It just adds a lot of clarity of how he can fit in and help grow the group and take this team to the next level. That’s his goal.”
Arizona added Pavel Datsyuk’s contract from Detroit on draft night and they signed forward Ryan White and Jamie McGinn on Friday, but they still have plenty of cap space to get a deal done with Doan (and others). According to General Fanager, the ‘Yotes have over $18 million in cap space.
The possibility of Doan listening to offers from other teams has been brought up as well:
Per source, UFA Shane Doan has "several offers" but is focused on working out deal w/Coyotes. However, it's not fair to say a deal is close.
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) July 2, 2016
It sounds like this one will get done, but the fact that it’s taking this long is interesting. If both sides wanted this badly enough, it probably should have happened already.