Articles in Arizona Coyotes

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA --- The Arizona Coyotes announced today that the Club has terminated the contract of forward Alex Galchenyuk.

The Club has issued the following statement:

"We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior. Once the Club was made aware of the allegations, we immediately began the process of terminating his Standard Player's Contract through the proper channels in conjunction with the National Hockey League. As a result, the Arizona Coyotes today have exercised the team's right to terminate the contract of Alex Galchenyuk due to a material breach of the terms of his Standard Player's Contract. The Club will have no further comment at this time."

from Katie Strang and The Athletic Staff,

The Coyotes have placed forward Alex Galchenyuk on unconditional waivers in order to terminate his contract, the club announced Thursday.

The 29-year-old signed a one-year, two-way contract with Arizona on July 1. The decision was made after the team became aware of an off-ice matter, according to ESPN and Sportsnet.

Galchenyuk was arrested on July 9 on a number of charges including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest and threatening or intimidating, the Scottsdale Police Department confirmed to The Athletic. Regarding the hit-and-run incident, police said that “it was only property damage and no injuries.”

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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - Arizona Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong announced today that the Coyotes have signed center Nick Bjugstad to a two-year contract. Per club policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased to have Nick re-join the Coyotes," said Armstrong. "He is a reliable two-way center, a good leader, and a great teammate. We look forward to having him back on our roster again this season."

LAK release is below.

NEW YORK (April 11, 2023) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) today announced the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings will face off in the first-ever NHL games in the Southern Hemisphere, as Melbourne, Australia will play host to the 2023 NHL Global Series™ – Melbourne. The preseason games between the Coyotes and Kings will be played on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24 at Rod Laver Arena. This historic announcement advances the NHL’s commitment to grow the game globally, while furthering the League’s international strategy.

from Arizona Sports,

The City of Phoenix announced on Tuesday that its aviation department is filing legal action against the city of Tempe for the planned residential development that is a part of the new entertainment district with the new arena for the Arizona Coyotes.

The formal complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court has Phoenix, the owners and operators of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, suing Tempe for a breach of contract, “asking the court to rescind Tempe’s recent zoning and land use changes and prohibit future residential uses in an area that the Federal Aviation Administration says is incompatible with residential development.”

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NEW YORK (March 24, 2023) – The National Hockey League today issued the following statement regarding Arizona Coyotes’ minority owner Andrew Barroway:

“The National Hockey League is aware of the arrest of Arizona Coyotes’ minority owner Andrew Barroway. Pending further information, he has been suspended indefinitely.”

via the Aspen Daily News,

from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic,

Heck, few franchises could compare with the all-Coyotes lineup of Pavel Datsyuk centering Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane (throw Jakub Voracek in there if you don’t think either of those guys could play on their off wing), with a top defensive pairing of Chris Pronger and Shea Weber. All of those players drew paychecks from the Coyotes. None of them ever suited up for the Coyotes. Maybe Carey Price will someday fill out the starting lineup.

I want to defend the Coyotes. I really do. There’s a real hockey fan base in the desert, a fervent-if-frustrated one, and the impact the team has had on the sport in the Valley is evident, embodied best by the very existence of Auston Matthews. The Phoenix metroplex is a top-10 market in the United States, and it’s easy to see why NHL commissioner Gary Bettman so badly wants the Coyotes to work, beyond his own stubbornness and ego.

But, boy, the Yotes really don’t make it easy, do they?

There are all the allegations of unpaid bills in Glendale. There’s the absurdity of playing in a 4,600-seat college arena at Arizona State, something that would have been cool and quirky and fun for a season but is destined to last four full seasons.

But mostly, there’s the way the Coyotes do business. The way they exist in a perpetual rebuild. The way they so nakedly serve as the cap-launderers for the NHL’s elite.

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added 6:07pm,

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Juuso Valimaki has been fined $4,189.19, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for slashing Anaheim Ducks forward Max Jones during NHL Game No. 763 in Tempe on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 3:20 of the second period. Valimaki was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for slashing.

Watch the slash below.

NEW YORK (Jan. 13, 2023) – Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom during NHL Game No. 672 in Tempe on Thursday, Jan. 12, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 11:19 of the first period. Keller was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for cross-checking.

The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

watch below

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

The Bruins brought oversized offense to the NHL’s smallest rink Friday night, only to see their vulcanized onslaught (a season-high 46 shots on net) get repeatedly snuffed out by Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka in a 4-3 loss to the Coyotes at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena.

Setting aside Vejmekla’s stellar performance, the true showstopper of the night was an officiating crew that curiously decided not to whistle play dead with what appeared to be a blatant icing infraction in the final seconds of regulation.

With play allowed to keep rolling as the puck trickled by the side of Jeremy Swayman’s net, Coyotes forward Matias Maccelli swept in, centered out in front, and Lawson Crouse drove home the winner with but 13.5 seconds remaining on the clock.

Defenseman Derek Forbort failed to corral the loose puck behind Swayman, and Maccelli (two assists) turned the boo boo into a bonanza.

“I was shocked, honestly,” said veteran Bruins winger Nick Foligno, whose goal with 5:29 to go in regulation pulled the Bruins into a 3-3 tie. “I actually couldn’t believe it [wasn’t icing]. I was dumbfounded.”

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Below watch the game winning goal and the game highlights.

And if there’s an honorable mention amidst all the ‘didn’t-see-that-coming’ storylines to develop in the first quarter, it probably needs to involve the Coyotes because they are not falling off the face of the earth the way so many expected. Instead, they have 18 points in 16 games, despite a massive early concentration of road games, where they are a remarkably respectable 6-7-1. The news got even better this week because both Nick Schmaltz and Jakob Chychrun finally returned to the lineup Monday. Schmaltz had been absent since the opening game of the season. On a team with limited talent, getting back last year’s No. 2 scorer was critical.

=Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic where you can read ($) his view many more topics.

from Mollie Walker of the New York Post,

If the substantial number of Rangers fans in attendance didn’t make the club’s first experience at Mullett Arena one to remember, the rambunctious atmosphere and back-to-college feel of the building certainly did.

The intimacy of the lower bowl was palpable. There were jerseys from all walks of life to be seen. It felt like a melting pot of hockey’s rowdiest traditions.

“I have no words, I really don’t,” K’Andre Miller said with a laugh. “I’ve been trying to figure out what I just played. I don’t know. It was a weird game. You see the guys in the stands taking off his shirts. I don’t know.

“It was a fun atmosphere, that’s for sure. Something you’re not really used to once you play in the league for a little bit. It was cool.”

Sure, the locker rooms are barren with only the absolute essentials — just a chair to sit on and a stall to hang your jersey in. And yes, there are scarce concession options that make Madison Square Garden look like a five-star restaurant of Bobby Flay’s or Gordon Ramsay’s.

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from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

The building was rocking and the mullets were flowing.

In short, the anticipation and build-up for the first NHL game at Mullett Arena actually lived up to the hype, as the music pulsated, the drum line banged away and the student section brought the electricity.

There was a sincere element of the unknown that came along with playing an NHL game on a college campus in a rink that only holds 5,000 fans and change.

The Coyotes provided a nod to their past and a glimpse of the future by having former captain Shane Doan and his son Josh (who is the captain of the Arizona State Sun Devils and a Coyotes draft pick) on hand for the ceremonial puck drop.

As expected, the bulk of those in the building were fans that were dressed in Coyotes gear, and they did their part to make sure this was a memorable atmosphere, chanting, cheering and clapping throughout.

There was definitely a college hockey vibe at times, with the chorus of “It’s all your fault” being directed at Jets goalie David Rittich after the two goals were allowed and the “You can’t do that” which was voiced toward the Jets players who committed an infraction and made their way to the penalty box.

There were some Jets fans that made the trek, along with a smattering of supporters of other teams, ranging from the Seattle Kraken to the Minnesota North Stars.

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Winnipeg won the game 3-2 in OT, highlights are below.

from Joshua Clipperton of the CP at CBC,

The Coyotes begin life at Arizona State University on Friday when they host the Winnipeg Jets following a six-game road trip to open the schedule....

Everything's brand new," Arizona winger Clayton Keller said of Mullett Arena's cozy confines. "We'll just go from there. The atmosphere will be cool. There's standing bleachers behind the net, which no NHL team has.

"It's unique and brings a different aspect."

There were inevitable jokes made when Arizona's move to an arena — which is named for a prominent ASU donor family — that's a fraction the size of the league's other 31 venues was announced, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said it will benefit the franchise both now and in the future.

"Full building every night," he said. "It could help the team and player performance when you have that type of environment....

As for playing in a 5,000-seat facility, NHL stars have mixed feelings.

"Certainly gonna be different," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. "Not really too sure what to expect. Definitely hope it works out."

"I don't know," Colorado centre Nathan MacKinnon added with a smile. "We'll see, I guess."

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added 12:53pm, Below, check out the dressing room for the visitors for the first 4 games.

from Mike Stevens of The Hockey News,

This is a team that has endured one of the more dramatic reputation erosions in recent memory, a process that began when the Coyotes were stripped of a first-round draft pick back in 2020 for violating league draft-testing rules, continued with The Athletic's Katie Strang uncovering the organization's toxic workplace culture in an in-depth expose, really started to fall off the rails when the club was threatened with eviction from their own rink by the City of Glendale in December 2021 for failing to pay arena rent and business costs, and finally crescendoed into being stuffed into a 5,000-seat college rink where they'll remain for the next three years.

So, yeah. Maybe regrouping for the next little bit to build a more stable foundation is not a bad idea, with that foundation hopefully beginning its evolution around the time the team's move to Tempe really starts to take shape.

And, frankly, the Coyotes have done a remarkable job of that so far.

The organization's draft capital is truly something to behold, with the Coyotes currently holding a total of three first-round picks, eight second-round picks, seven third-round picks, and four fourth-round picks over the next three NHL drafts combined. How they've accomplished that is by using those scant resources to their own advantage, becoming the premier dumping ground onto whom any cap-strapped teams can offload their unsavory contracts, albeit with a sweetener attached as the cost of admission.

That's all well and good for the future, though, but what about the present.

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