‘Yotes Notes: Chayka says Coyotes willing to sign Hanzal to extension

Arizona Sports caught up with Coyotes general manager John Chayka on Tuesday morning to get an update on several topics. While there was no major news to report, Chayka did offer some information.

Here’s a quick rundown.

— Chayka responded to reports that the Coyotes had requested a list of teams to which center Martin Hanzal would accept a trade. Chayka said Hanzal has a modified no-trade clause as he enters the final year of a contract that will pay him $3.5 million, per generalfanager.com.

Chayka said he met with Hanzal’s representatives last week. “I talked to his representatives about his no-trade list but that’s going to be our standard procedure going forward,” Chayka said. “I don’t want it to be seen as a leverage point or a bargaining chip. It’s just to say, ‘let’s get it out in the open so we all know our options.’

“I wouldn’t have been there if I wasn’t willing to sign Marty to an extension. When he’s playing well, he’s one of our most, if not the most impactful forward.”

— Chayka said there is no update on contract negotiations for captain Shane Doan but he does expect a one-year deal to be struck before Doan can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Part of the discussion involves the Coyotes’ free agency and trade plans.

“We’re trying to give Shane the best possible team we can,” Chayka said. “For an older player, you want the best possible chance to make the playoffs.”

— Chayka said the team is not concerned with hiring an assistant GM before the NHL Draft on June 24-25 in Buffalo, although it is still possible.

“We’re talking to a few people in that experienced manager position but we feel pretty confident about the people we have in place,” Chayka said.

— Chayka would not directly address any potential offers for the Coyotes to move up in the NHL Draft, even to the No. 1 spot, but he did respond to a recent report that the Coyotes were willing to offer both of their first-round picks (No. 7 and No. 20) along with either wing Max Domi or center prospect Christian Dvorak to Toronto in exchange for the No. 1 pick and the right to draft Auston Matthews.

“I’m not exactly sure where people come up with this stuff. I personally find some of the reports that are out there are pretty ridiculous speculation,” he said. “We’re still just in discussions, whether that means moving up or down, and up doesn’t even have to be No. 1.

“What we’re really looking at it is does this trade make your team better in the short term and in the long term?”

Chayka has said previously that the Coyotes would do their due diligence and at least explore a trade with Toronto for the right to draft Matthews, but they would not give up a bunch of prospects to do so.

“We like our players a lot,” he said.

— Chayka said the coaching staff for the team’s AHL affiliate in Tucson should be announced within the next week.

— As Arizona Sports reported Monday, the Coyotes expect to tender qualifying offers to restricted free-agent forward Tobias Rieder, RFA defensemen Connor Murphy, Michael Stone, Klas Dahlbeck and RFA goalie Louis Domingue. Chayka also said the Coyotes expect to tender an offer to RFA forward prospect Tyler Gaudet. Qualifying offers are due by June 27.

The futures of RFA defensemen Kevin Connauton and Jarred Tinordi and minor-league RFA forwards Christian Thomas, Stefan Fournier, RFA defenseman Philip Samuelsson and RFA goalie Niklas Treutle will depend on what other moves the Coyotes make.

— With regard to the Coyotes’ own unrestricted free agents, the only one Chayka confirmed the Coyotes definitely want to re-sign is Doan. The Coyotes expect to let UFA forwards Boyd Gordon, Alex Tanguay, Viktor Tikhonov, Kyle Chipchura, Eric Selleck, defenseman Nicklas Grossmann and goalie Anders Lindback test the market.

“The door is always open to at least have a discussion but as we continue to get younger and faster, veteran players are looking for different things at this point in their career,” Chayka said.

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