- Slug: Sports-Coyotes signings, 530 words
By Matt Faye
Cronkite News
PHOENIX — The Coyotes locked up Connor Murphy and Michael Stone on Thursday, giving the team nine defensemen with legitimate NHL experience.
Arizona signed Murphy to a six-year, $23 million contract and Stone to a one-year deal worth $4 million as the team looks for the right blue-line combination.
“We’re happy to get these two guys signed, both right shots, which are obviously difficult to find,” said general manager John Chayka. “Both had good years, career years last year, and really bought into what the coaching staff was trying to preach, which was more involvement from the back end in our offense and moving pucks more efficiently.”
Murphy and Stone now rejoin a crowded Arizona blue line that features offseason acquisitions Alex Goligoski and Luke Schenn. Chayka projects both Murphy and Stone as top four defensemen, but said the defense is a work in progress.
“It’s a bit of a logjam right now perhaps,” he said. “If there’s a move that helps everyone and creates some flexibility for us then that’s what we’re evaluating right now, but there’s still some work to be done I’d say.”
Murphy’s signing follows weeks of negotiations with the Coyotes after his entry-level contract expired earlier this summer. Originally drafted 20th overall by the Coyotes in 2011, Murphy has recorded 32 points in 181 career games for the team. Last year, he tallied six goals and 11 assists in 78 games. Murphy also finished second on the team in hits (175) and blocked shots (139) during just his second full season in the NHL.
The 23-year-old said he had no expectations going into the free-agent process, but was happy to end up in Arizona long term.
“I can’t say it enough how fortunate I am to have management and ownership and a team that believes in me and puts trust in where they think I’m going to be with the organization,” Murphy said. “I’m extremely excited, I love Arizona, and love the rest of my teammates and the future that we have with this team.”
Chayka acknowledged the risks that come with a six-year contract, but said he expects those risks to pay off.
“There’s a lot of risks the longer you go in terms of injuries, personality, lack of motivation, he said. “It’s a projection deal, but at the same time when the risk increases you hope that the reward does as well.”
While Murphy looks forward to a long future with the Coyotes, Stone is hoping to play his way to multi-year deal next season. The 26-year-old has spent all five of his NHL seasons in Arizona, and set career highs last year in assists (30) and points (36) before suffering a season-ending knee injury on March 26.
Stone underwent surgery on April 1 to repair a torn ACL and MCL, and spent the offseason rehabbing in an effort to get back to top form. He was scheduled for an arbitration hearing Aug. 4 in Toronto before coming to terms with the Coyotes.
“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,” he said.
Forward Tobias Rieder is the team’s only restricted free agent yet to strike a deal.