Coyotes re-sign Connor Murphy for 6 years, Michael Stone on 1-year deal
Jul 28, 2016, 3:41 PM | Updated: Jul 29, 2016, 7:07 am
Arizona Coyotes' Connor Murphy (5) sends Vancouver Canucks' Chris Tanev, right, to the ice during the third period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. The Canucks defeated the Coyotes 2-1. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Coyotes solidified two more pieces of their ever-evolving blue line when they agreed to terms on Thursday with restricted free agent defensemen Connor Murphy and Michael Stone on six-year and one-year deals, respectively.
Murphy’s deal is worth $23.1 million, or an average annual value of $3.85 million for the 23-year-old. Stone, 26, avoided an arbitration hearing set for Aug. 4 when he took $4 million on his one-year deal. Their signings leave forward Tobias Rieder as the team’s lone unsigned RFA.
“Ever-evolving is a good word,” Coyotes general manager John Chayka said of the Arizona blue line, which added free agents Alex Goligoski and Luke Schenn earlier this summer. “We’re continuing to kind of firm up our plan, our blueprint. It still needs some work and we’re still chipping away at a few different things but I think we’ve upgraded it.
“We’re happy to get these two guys signed; both right shots which are obviously difficult to find. Both had good years — career years last year and really bought into what the coaching staff was trying to preach with more involvement from the back end in our offense and moving pucks more efficiently.”
Murphy, the team’s first-round pick in 2010 (20th overall) had six goals and 17 points last season in 78 games. He finished second on the team with 175 hits and 139 blocked shots while averaging 20:30 of ice time, the third-highest Coyotes average.
A six-year deal is unusual for such a young player, although Nashville just signed 24-year-old forward Calle Jarnkrok to a six-year, $12 million deal this week. The average annual value may look high now, but it allows the Coyotes to lock up two seasons where Murphy could have been an unrestricted free agent. The deal is also middle-loaded in anticipation of the salaries the team will have to pay some of its younger players who will be coming out of their entry-level contracts.
“He’s improved year over year for us. He’s a guy who we think can be part of our leadership group for a long, long time,” Chayka said. “We’re not paying for past performance in this industry. We’re paying for future performance. The theory is to get ahead of it, be proactive and not look to buy ships on rising waters.”
When asked why he was willing to lock himself in for six years instead of getting to unrestricted free agency earlier, Murphy said simply that Arizona was the place where he wanted to play.
“I can’t say enough about how fortunate I am to have a management and ownership and team that believes in me and puts trust in where they think I’m going to be,” Murphy said.
Stone, a 2008 third-round pick (69th overall), had six goals, a career-high 30 assists and a career-high 36 points. He led the team with 143 blocked shots and was second in average ice time at 22:27.
Stone suffered a torn ACL and MCL on March 26 in a collision with Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl. Both he and Chayka acknowledged that the injury played a role in the one-year deal.
“I would love to be here long term. That’s a goal (but) things are a little uncertain with my injury,” Stone said. “The one-year deal is going to give me a chance to prove myself and hopefully, we can look at something longer down the road.
“I think it’s a good number. It’s a significant increase for me. It just goes to show that I had a good season last year.”
Stone arrived back in the Valley on Wednesday night and said he expects to start skating soon. The Coyotes estimated his recovery time at a minimum of six months, and Stone said he is on track, but he added that it was too early to say when he might return.
Even if Stone isn’t ready for the start of the year, the Coyotes have three right-handed NHL defensemen on the roster in Murphy, Schenn and Zbynek Michalek. When Stone is ready to return, however, the Coyotes will have what Chayka called “a bit of a logjam” on defense. That has led to speculation that the Coyotes might still be pursuing trade or two — perhaps for a top-four defenseman, a top-six right wing or even another left wing if they can’t come to terms with Rieder.
“We’re still looking at some different options; different things to do,” Chayka said. “If there’s a move that helps everyone and creates some flexibility for us … that’s what we’re evaluating right now.
“There’s still some work to be done.”
