The latest report on the Shane Doan front is that the leagues' most star-studded team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, have offered Doan a contract that would put him alongside former MVP's Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
As you may have heard, the Penguins are not the only ones to express interest in the Doan. John Gambadoro of KTAR in Phoenix has the count up to seven teams who have offered Doan a contract, and one of those offers is reportedly a ludicrous four years, $30 million offer.
On that list are: The Coyotes, the Penguins, the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Sharks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks. If you add the teams who have expressed interest, but have not offered a contract yet, the number is easily in double digits.
While the Coyotes are on that list, do they really have a shot to keep their former captain, and Coyote lifer in town?
Look at the teams on the list. The Red Wings, Canucks and Penguins are all perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup and give Doan the opportunity to play along names like: Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Joe Thorton, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and of course Crosby and Malkin.
Martin Hanzal and Antoine Vermette don't sound so inviting anymore, do they.
And then there is always the possibility that Doan could pull a Steve Nash and go to the rival Los Angeles Kings. The Kings and Coyotes series in the Western Conference finals ended with Doan exchanging a series of expletives with Dustin Brown in the handshake line, after Brown's cheap shot on Michal Rozsival. Can you imagine Doan and Brown embracing each other after a big OT winner?
However, the Kings did just win the cup, and have much more talent the roster than the Coyotes. This, coupled with the draw of LA, could tip the scales in their favor.
Then there is also that whole "our team is not a complete mess with no owner, and we do not have a city that is literally petitioning to get us out of town" pitch that all these teams are giving Doan. Doaner wants to be a Coyote, but you have to imagine that Doan continuing to extend his deadline is not a good sign. It could be because he wants the ownership situation to be completely resolved before he commits somewhere, or it could be because he is having a hard time coming to terms that leaving the desert is actually the better option.
Loyalty only goes so far. When Doan finally calls it quits, he will be remembered for his time in a Coyotes' sweater, but right now, the prospect of Doan returning to the ice wearing the "C" for the Coyotes next season seems unlikely.