Things can change pretty quickly in the world of NHL contract negotiations.
It was only a couple of days ago that the agent for Arizona Coyotes forward Tobias Rieder was saying that maybe it would be best if the team traded his client’s restricted free agents with two sides unable to reach a deal.
Now it seems they have bridged the relatively small gap that existed between them.
According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Coyotes and Rieder have agreed to terms on a two-year contract that will pay the forward an average salary of $2.225 million per season. It is not quite the $2.5 million figure that Rieder was reportedly looking for and is closer to the Coyotes’ reported offer of $2.2 million per year, but it would at least get Rieder into camp and ready for the start of the season.
Rieder, 23, has spent two full seasons with the Coyotes, scoring 27 goals and adding 31 assists in 154 career games. He is coming off of a 2015-16 season that saw him score 14 goals.
He is not quite on the level of some of Arizona’s other young players like Maxi Domi or Anthony Duclair, and his upside isn’t anywhere near as high as a player like Dylan Strome, but Rieder is still a nice young depth piece for the Coyotes to have in place.
With Rieder’s contract now apparently done, that leaves the only unsigned restricted free agents as Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary), Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg), Hampus Lindholm (Anaheim), Rickard Rakell (Anaheim), and Rasmus Ristolainen (Buffalo).