Coyotes face financial restrictions
Phoenix Coyotes general manager Don Maloney faces the tough task of maintaining the momentum of last season’s surprising team while dealing with the financial restrictions put in place by the NHL.
The league still owns the franchise after buying it in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last September and has given the team a budget as it faces the potential loss of several key players after the free agency signing period begins on July 1.
Maloney said he received his budget for players in a meeting last week with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. Maloney said the undisclosed figure is not a lot but is “enough to make a winner.”
“We’ll be at the lower end of the league but it will be more than last year,” Maloney said on Wednesday. “Now the trick is going to be to put a winner on the ice with what we have to work with.”
Maloney, recently named the NHL’s general manager of the year, worked wonders with what he had last season. With the franchise in turmoil and doubts about the team’s future in the desert abounding, the Coyotes set franchise records for wins and points. The team went from playing in an empty building when the season started to a string of raucous sellouts down the stretch before Phoenix was eliminated 4-3 by Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.
The league still wants to sell to a buyer who will keep the team in Arizona.
Ice Edge Holdings, a group of Canadian and American investors, has emerged as the only candidate to do that after a group headed by Chicago sports baron Jerry Reinsdorf withdrew from contention this week. The Glendale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to give Ice Edge 60 days to exclusively negotiate a new lease agreement for the team to play at Jobing.com Arena.
If there’s a new lease, the NHL owners will decide whether to sell to Ice Edge. Glendale has pledged $25 million to the league to cover potential losses in the coming season if the ownership issue drags on.
Meanwhile, Coyotes president Doug Moss and Maloney have a hockey franchise to operate. They talked about the situation in a “round table” luncheon with reporters on Wednesday.
The Coyotes announced they had re-signed left wing to a one-year contract. , 26, was the team’s leading scorer with 18 goals and 14 assists before going down with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 28.
However, Maloney acknowledged it is questionable whether the team can afford to re-sign defenseman . and forward “are well-positioned in the marketplace to be free in a month, and they can go anywhere they like,” the general manager said.