Arizona Coyotes’ Tobias Rieder Re-Signing Important For Franchise
The re-signing of Tobias Rieder shows that the Arizona Coyotes want to win and win now.
The Arizona Coyotes were a very polarizing and dysfunctional franchise during the mid-2000’s.
Fans noticed and it turned them away from the organization. The franchise is still dealing with the fallout of those years today.
Since the new ownership group took over in 2013 they have set about cleaning up the mess left behind by the previous owners, and they’ve made some great headway.
With the Coyotes just launching their “Coyotes 2.0” marketing campaign, they’ve made it their mission to show fans that they want to be competitive.
The re-signing of Tobias Rieder shows that they mean it.
Although Rieder’s agent Darren Ferris wanted a contract in the 2.5 million range and Arizona was offering closer to 2 million, they were able to agree at 2 years at 2.225 million per year. Both sides have publicly stated that they are happy to have a deal done and that there are no hard feelings with the drawn out contract talk.
The previous ownership and management groups gained reputations of being unable to keep key players.
This often left the Coyotes scrambling to fill the void left. Ilya Bryzgalov left for Philadelphia when the Coyotes would not pay him, Radim Vrbata did the same thing by heading to Vancouver. Kyle Turris demanded a trade when contract negotiations did not go his way.
At the time of these re-negotiations, these were important pieces that would have helped the Coyotes win games. This is a limited example of a long history of letting players walk or trading them away prematurely.
You could see this “we can’t keep our own” sentiment cropping up again last year with Mikkel Boedker’s trade.
That situation was different, however.
Mikkel Boedker was reportedly offered 5 million per year from Arizona with an undisclosed amount of term and he turned it down.
After being traded to Colorado, his free agency stock sank.
Boedker eventually signed a four-year deal with average annual value of $4M with the San Jose Sharks when free agency began.
The Arizona Coyotes lodged a significant bid to re-sign Boeds and should not be held accountable for this debacle. They gave him a more-than-fair offer, but Mikkel Boedker overplayed his own hand.
Even with the pass that management is given with the Boedker situation, the front office is still trying to shed the label of not being able to retain key players.
The Tobias Rieder signing is a good step in the right direction. Tobias Rieder deserved the contract and John Chayka did not back down from his offer. It was a win-win situation for the organization.
The 23-year-old German forward had a very nice showing with the European team at the World Cup. Although on the fourth line, Tobias played very strong defensively and this experience should serve him well on the Coyotes this year in an expanded role.
Chayka was smart to sign fan favorite Tobias Rieder, however this is just a building block for the organization.
When Anthony Duclair is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, it will be interesting to see how Chayka handles it. Jacob Trouba and Johnny Gaudreau have had long drawn out contract talks while being RFAs. Fans don’t want to see a situation play out like that in the Valley.
Following the 2017-2018 season, Max Domi will become a restricted free agent. While Duclair and Domi contract negotiations are not a pressing matter right now, they are something to keep an eye out for.
The way John Chayka has handled his first draft and free agency as a general manager has impressed fans across the Valley.
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The entire Arizona Coyotes organization has worked hard to gain the trust of fans with their commitment to grow and win now.
It’s time for fans to shed their reliance on the labels and stereotypes left behind by previous owners and management. It is time to embrace the “Coyotes 2.0”.