Radim Vrbata, Shane Doan remain with Coyotes after NHL trade deadline

Coyotes general manager John Chayka set conditions for trading Radim Vrbata.

Shane Doan set conditions for accepting a trade from the only franchise he’s ever known.

Those conditions were not met by Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, so both Vrbata and Doan will remain with the Coyotes until their contracts expire at the end of the season.

“We just made a decision that we’re sill trying to grow here and have a competitive team and finish the season well with our good young group,” Chayka said, when asked why he didn’t trade Vrbata despite widespread interest. “Unless it was a great offer, we were going to keep him. You set your threshold. We were looking around to see if we could maximize our return like any player but just decided at the end of the day to keep him.”

Vrbata signed a one-year deal this summer with a $1 million base salary and a complicated set of performance bonuses that includes as much as $1.25 million in playoff bonuses that he will not achieve in Arizona. He has already earned $1 million in bonus money for playing at least 30 games and reaching 40 points ($500,000 for each milestone).

Vrbata leads the Coyotes with 32 assists and 47 points. He is on a career-high 10-game point streak (four goals, 12 points), and he recently reached the 600-point plateau for his career. Chayka would not say what the trade demands were for Vrbata, but one NHL source said the Coyotes were asking either for a second-round pick or a high prospect that had been drafted in the first or second round.

“Look at the points leaders,” Chayka said. “You see some of the names he’s up there with. You’ve got Jonathan Toews and [Alex] Radulov. He’s been a productive player; he’s been a real good player for us. He came in on a lower-end deal and did a great job. I think it means something that he loves to be in Arizona and he’s three games away from 1,000. It’s a great opportunity for him.”

Vrbata said the last two days have been “very stressful” since the team traded center and good friend Martin Hanzal to the Minnesota Wild. When he took the ice for practice in Buffalo one hour before the deadline, Vrbata’s image was splashed all over social media, accompanied by widespread speculation about his future.

“It was pretty weird,” he said. “Every time I skated to the bench or did something, people were wondering, ‘what does it mean?'”

As soon as associate coach Jim Playfair showed him a text message from coach Dave Tippett saying he was staying, Vrbata phoned his wife, Petra.

“She was relieved,” he said. “I think she was open for me to go if it was to a team that had a really good chance to win, but family-wise it’s a big relief. With three little kids, that would be tough on her to handle everything by herself and obviously, it would be hard on the kids.”

Chayka said that re-signing Vrbata this summer is a possibility and Vrbata sounded excited about that idea.

“I’m happy to stay and that’s what I was saying all along that I wanted to do,” he said. “I signed here for a reason and even though the season isn’t going the way everybody would like it to, I’m happy to finish it here and help out the young guys.

“I like being in Phoenix; I like playing for Tip. We don’t have to have that contract tomorrow or next week, but we will probably talk about it when the season is over.”

Chayka said the Coyotes received no calls about Doan, who has a full no-movement clause and was only interested in playing a regular role for a team that had a chance to win a championship. Doan was not surprised by the lack of interest, given the restrictions, his age and his limited productivity this season (five goals, 20 points).

“Not a big market for a 40-year-old, fourth liner who only wants to go to a contender,” he said, laughing.

Doan said he never demanded a trade or even asked for a trade.

“There were only about four or five teams that I would even think about,” he said. “I appreciate that I’ve had 20 years to play with the Coyotes and I wasn’t about to throw that away. At the same time, you want the opportunity to win and if one of the situations had been perfect I might have done it.”

Doan said he is happy to remain a Coyote.

“It’s always difficult when you wish you were in a better position, but I’m really excited and can’t wait for the rest of the year,” he said.

While many have speculated that Doan will retire after this season, he said he would not make that decision until the offseason when he has had a chance to talk it over with his family.

“I want to make sure I still enjoy playing and still feel good,” he said. “I don’t want to make a decision and then second-guess it later, I want to be sure.”

In another, minor deal, the Coyotes sent forward Brendan Ranford to the Colorado Avalanche for minor league forward Joe Whitney to bolster the slumping Tucson Roadrunners, who have lost four straight games and 14 of their last 16.

The Coyotes also made a paper move by assigning forward Brendan Perlini and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo to the AHL, so that they’re eligible for play there, particularly when the playoffs begin. Both will remain with the Coyotes for now.

Additionally, forward Anthony Duclair was recalled from Tucson after scoring a goal and recording seven assists in 16 AHL games.

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