Shane Doan has only ever had one NHL home.
Sure, the name has changed, as well as the home-ice venue, but Doan has steadfastly and stoically remained one of the best players for the Coyotes franchise for 18-plus NHL seasons since being selected seventh overall in the 1995 draft by the original Winnipeg Jets, just a year before they were sold to Phoenix.
In this, his age 38-season, he's got 10 goals and 13 assists in 42 games of action. The team is failing - they're eight points ahead of the train-wreck that is the Edmonton Oilers for the last spot in the Western Conference - and rumors have begun to circulate that a number of pieces, including Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle, could be on their way out of town.
But could Doan, the team captain and emotional leader, a player whose on-ice and locker room importance cannot possibly be overstated, be willing to waive his no-trade clause and thus find himself on the trade block as well?
"He might. There have always been rumblings around Shane Doan. And give full credit to this guy. I mean, he has been a stoic leader on a team that has faced every single level of adversity, both on the ice and off the ice. Yet he's been there in the community and he's taken the blows and he's hung in there," said TSN's Darren Dreger on an episode of Edmonton's TSN 1260 Thursday morning, as transcribed by NicholsOnHockey.com.
"But he's at the end of his run. And so it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, that if this is the direction that they're going, if they creep closer to the trade deadline, they go to Doaner and they say, 'Look, are you in this? There's another rebuild coming down the pathway here. Or would you like us to see what's available to you among those contenders who are legitimately trying to make a run for a Stanley Cup here?'"
New team owner Andrew Barroway has, according to Dreger, told Coyotes GM Don Maloney to listen on everything. The plan for the franchise is to get younger, cut payroll and focus on the draft.
While watching Doan walk away would be hard for Arizona fans, the potential return for an aging star with limited time left in the league may be too hard for the team to pass up on, whether it is ahead of the trade deadline or on draft day.
