Center Antoine Vermette has quietly and consistently been one of the most reliable and well-rounded players on one of the NHL's most notoriously lackluster and underperforming teams - the Arizona Coyotes - over the last three-plus seasons.
He plays the game the right way: he wins face offs, he plays strong defensively and he chips in offensively when the time is right. He's appeared in 405 straight NHL games.
The 32-year-old Vermette plays the type of game that should allow him to stay in the league for several more seasons, except it's seeming less and less likely that he and his strong two-way skills will be sticking around the desert long term, according to a report from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet Canada.
Vermette, in the final year of a five-year $18.75 million contract, can see the writing on the wall - he's in contract limbo because of a team that can't negotiate until it fully changes ownership hands.
"One thing I told myself during the season is I'll focus on the game and that's it," Vermette said, per Johnston. "That's what I'll try to do."
Coyotes GM Don Maloney had preliminary talks with Vermette's agent, Allan Walsh, about an extension prior to the season, but with the entire organization currently in flux as Philadelphia hedge-fund manager Andrew Barroway finalizes his acquisition of a majority stake in the team, he is not in a position to continue those talks now.
"I don't anticipate a real dramatic change in direction here, but it does impact how we move going forward," said Maloney. "Whether we have more (money) available for the hockey team, or less available, or what is our (budget)? It's not only this year, but the next three to five years, what is our projection?"
Maloney also said he won't be pushed into trading any of his players - especially not in an effort to save money. The goal is to make the playoffs, and even a 5-6-1 start does not change that.
"The last thing you want is to start gutting your team of your good players," Maloney explained. "We're trying to get to the playoffs. We need to be a playoff team to continue to grow our (fanbase). If you're close (to making it), if you're real tight up against it, then we're not going to trade any of our good players.
"And then you hope to be able to resign them in the off-season."
Vermette, though he voiced his desire to continue playing for Arizona, would be in line for a "big, big deal if he hits the market" this summer, one pro scout told Johnston.
But were things to change and the season to go south in Arizona, Vermette's pragmatic about the prospect of forging ahead elsewhere.
"I've moved before."
