The Arizona Coyotes are being told what the deal is by one of their star players. 25-year-old Clayton Keller, a two-time All-Star for Arizona, met with the management recently and laid out his demands. Here's what insider Elliotte Friedman had to say about it.
Let's face it, the Coyotes are in one of the most chaotic situations an NHL team has been in for some time. Their current home, which is the 5,000 seat Mullett Arena, is way too small for a team in one of the top leagues in the world. The Coyotes were evicted from an arena in Glendale over an unpaid tax bill. After that, a proposal to build a 16,000 seat arena in Tempe was rejected by voters. The Coyotes will have to find a suitable and stable home before they can even begin to think about the direction on the ice. Right now, the direction appears to be a full-on rebuild for the last several years. The only time Arizona made the NHL playoffs since 2013 was in 2020, the COVID year. They won the play-in, and then were eliminated in the first round.
If stability is what Keller truly wants to stick around, Arizona's management needs to get on it now. Keller, who had 86 points this season on a dismal team, just completed year three of an eight-year deal at a cap hit of $7.15 per season. The lineup for his services if he wants out will be a long one.
