Still operating under the parameters of league ownership, Maloney faces an offseason where several of his key players are unrestricted free agents.

That list includes captain Shane Doan, the longest-tenured pro athlete in Phoenix, and a member of the team since their Winnipeg days.

"We'll get it when everything is sorted out with the team," Doan said Thursday while the team was cleaning out their lockers at Jobing.com Arena. "It hasn't been a distraction, and we'll get it done."

Doan, 35, played in 79 games this season, scoring 22 goals and added 28 assists. His 50 points were his lowest total since the 2001-02 season. That statistic doesn't seem to concern Maloney.

"Once we have our ownership settled, we'll immediately go after Shane and make sure we do everything we can to keep him a Coyote for the rest of his career," he said. "That's a goal of mine."

There's also been talk of a contract extension for goalie Mike Smith, who signed a two-year, $4 million contract with the Coyotes last summer. Smith was thought to be a major downgrade at the position after Ilya Bryzgalov signed a huge free agent deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, but the 31-year-old solidified himself as one of the best netminders in the business.

"It's tough to comment on that right now after the season just ended so abruptly," Smith said. "It's been a breath of fresh air coming out here to the desert and kind of turning my career around.

"We'll deal with contract talk when it comes, but it's been a fun place to play hockey and I couldn't ask for a better bunch of guys in this locker room."

An extension for Smitty, as he's known by his teammates, is definitely on Maloney's radar.

"He likes us, we like him," he said. "We'd like to do something, he's a core piece for us, but it's not something that has to be done in the next month or so; that's something you can look at in July or August."

Arizona Sports' Craig Grialou contributed to this report.