Coyotes President and CEO Ahron Cohen said Sunday that the sale of the team to billionaire Alex Meruelo “is still expected to close by the end of the month.” Meruelo is expected to purchase a 95 percent stake in the team, with current owner Andrew Barroway retaining 5 percent.
The Athletic first reported the news of Meruelo’s planned purchase on June 10. The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale at a meeting on June 19 in Las Vegas before the NHL Awards show.
Advertisement
Meruelo is expected to meet with local media sometime after the sale has closed.
Injury/rehab updates
Chayka said goalie Antti Raanta (knee) has been skating and working out for most of the summer as he prepares for the season. Raanta was no longer in rehab mode when he left Arizona shortly after the season ended. He has no restrictions and should be ready for camp.
Strength and conditioning coach J.P. Major is training with Raanta and defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Niklas Hjalmarsson in Jönköping, Sweden. Major also spent an afternoon with 2019 first-round draft pick Victor Söderström while in Sweden.
“J.P. just sent me a note and said Antti looks great,” Chayka said.
Chayka said center Nick Schmaltz (knee) is also out of the rehab phase and into full training mode.
‘He is skating and working out; feeling good,” Chayka said. “I talked to him the other day. He has put on some size, too. It sounds like he is progressing well. He was here for a large portion of the summer but he is going back and forth now between here and the Midwest.”
Chayka said defenseman Kyle Capobianco (ACL surgery) should be ready for training camp, but that the team would take a cautious approach.
“We’ll see how far he comes in terms of playing exhibition games but he is skating and playing in scrimmages,” Chayka said. “There are no real restrictions anymore. It’s just about reps. We’ll see what the risk-reward looks like in terms of reps in a game situation at that time (camp).”
Minor-league goaltender Merrick Madsen is still rehabbing from hip surgery.
“He should be ready for camp but until he is back on the ice and performing to the level he was, you don’t want to make any assumptions,” Chayka said.
Adin Hill contract talks
Chayka said talks with restricted free-agent goaltender Adin Hill are progressing. Hill played 13 NHL games last season, going 7-5 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He was 16-19-2 with the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League, with a 2.61 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
Advertisement
“Adin is a good young goalie and he took a good step last year and had a nice run at the NHL level,” Chayka said. “He’s still working to establish himself as a consistent NHL performer so his situation is considerably different from some of the other (NHL) RFAs. Term and dollar are the constants in negotiations but I don’t think there is a wide gap. It’s a process but the market is pretty set.”
The only other remaining RFA in the organization, Tucson forward Emil Pettersson, will play in the Swedish Hockey League next season. The Coyotes, who sent Pettersson a qualifying offer, will retain his rights.
Final forward roster spots
Chayka listed a half-dozen players in contention for the final two forward roster spots available, including 2018 first-round draft pick (No. 5) Barrett Hayton, Roadrunners Michael Bunting, Hudson Fasching and 2015 first-round pick (No. 30) Nick Merkley, and recent signings Andy Miele and Beau Bennett.
Chayka said he is still having conversations with free agents available on the market, but the Coyotes have largely accomplished their offseason goals.
“You’re always trying to improve the team until you get to the point where you feel you’re a Stanley Cup contender and I don’t feel like we’re at that stage,” he said. “We need some significant growth from our young players and a lot of players to have career years to ascend to that level but as we look at our group we wanted to add some established scoring and veteran stability and we accomplished that with Phil (Kessel) and Carl (Söderberg).
“We’re at that stage where you are continuing to touch base and see where the market sets. There’s some intriguing pieces out there but the pieces out there have to be an upgrade on what we currently have and then you have to look at the cost, whether it’s dollars or acquisition cost. We’re still having discussions, but nothing that I would say is imminent. Our key for the next year and, really, five to 10 years, is how far can some of these young players take us? Can they take those next steps in their career?”
Advertisement
Chayka said that if Hayton makes the roster, the Coyotes would not feel comfortable with him serving as a 13th or 14th forward. He would mostly have to earn a regular role.
”We don’t want him to be a regular in the press box,” Chayka said. “Barrett is at an age where he needs to be playing and developing and getting ice time, but you look at a guy like (St. Louis’) Robert Thomas. He was scratched a number of times. Sometimes, he played up in the lineup and sometimes he played down in the lineup and it all culminated in him make some big plays to help win a Stanley Cup for them.
“I don’t think Barrett has to be a guy that plays on your first-unit power play and plays 18-19 minutes a night. Obviously, that would be ideal, but we’ll see how it plays out in camp in terms of his development and what’s in his best interest.”
New ECHL affiliate
Chayka said the Coyotes are in the process of securing a new ECHL affiliate and will not renew with the Norfolk (Va.) Admirals, with whom they signed a one-year affiliation agreement last summer. Former Admirals player Patrick Cavanagh recently purchased the team, which has struggled with attendance, from New York-based Mango Media. Cavanagh has made significant changes to the organization that do not sync with the Coyotes’ goals.
“Location is an important variable and it’s always advantageous to find something closer, but the relationship and the coaching staff and the obligation to players and how much are they about development vs. how much are they about just trying to survive and put butts in the seats, those are all factors that are important to us, too,” Chayka said.
Chayka declined to discuss which team or teams the Coyotes are considering for an ECHL affiliation. Per ECHL.com, the only team that does not currently have an affiliation is the Rapid City (S.D.) Rush, with whom the Coyotes had an affiliation from 2015-17. It’s unclear if other NHL franchises could be changing their affiliations.
(Photo of Antti Raanta: Marc DesRosiers / USA Today Sports)