Shane Doan is about to enter the most critical stage of his NHL career.
The 2006-07 season is not just "a" contract year for the captain of the Coyotes, it's "the" contract year.
"This next contract will be the biggest contract of my life," Doan said recently after skating and working out with other NHL players in Scottsdale. "I've played 11 years for the right to have this contract."
Doan is signed for one more season and plans to honor the deal that will pay him $3.38 million. But he would love to sign a lengthy contract extension, preferably before the season starts next month.
"Obviously, I want to get it done and settled, but I don't want to sign a contract just to sign a contract," Doan said. "I want to get a good deal. I love it here and I want to play here, but the team has to want me here. I would definitely like a contract extension, but at the same time, I'm not going to sign a bad deal."
The Coyotes and Doan's agent began negotiations last week.
"We have every intention of signing Shane Doan to a new contract, ideally one that will be another step in seeing him in a Coyotes uniform for the balance of his NHL career," Coyotes General Manager Mike Barnett said. "I have begun discussions with his agent and anticipate that we will push forward the process in the next 14 days. I know both sides are desirous of getting something done now and with those mutual intentions we can get down to business promptly."
Doan, who led the Coyotes with 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists) last season, is seeking at least a four-year deal.
"I'd like more than four years, for sure," Doan said. "The longer the better for me."
Doan's annual salary for those seasons promises to be the key bargaining point.
Doan was the team's highest paid player in 2005-06, but he slipped to second for this season in March when the team signed defenseman Derek Morris to a $3.9 million contract, and then he dropped to third when Phoenix signed unrestricted free-agent defenseman Ed Jovanovski to an eyebrow-raising five-year, $32.5 million contract this summer.
Jovanovski will be paid more than twice than Doan this season, but Doan said he's OK with that.
"I was ecstatic when I heard about Jovo's deal," Doan said. "I am incredibly grateful for what I get paid, but when someone else gets that much money you say, 'Good for you, drive up the market as much as you can.' "
$6 million man?
Doan declined comment on how much money he is seeking for his next contract, but he'd probably be offered between $5 million and $6 million per season as an unrestricted free agent next summer.
That may pose a problem for the Coyotes, who also will be faced with re-signing other key players such as Ladislav Nagy, Mike Comrie, Keith Ballard, Jeremy Roenick, Owen Nolan and Curtis Joseph after this season.
Doan's value to the Coyotes goes beyond statistics, and his loyalty to the team is evident on and off the ice. He is the face of the team in the community.
But Doan admits he sometimes wonders what it would be like to play for a team located in a more traditional hockey market instead of playing in anonymity in a saturated pro sports market where ice hockey is not the big game in town.
"There's no doubt I would be ecstatic to spend my career here," Doan said. "But you hear guys talk about playing in other places and other situations and you wonder and think, 'Hey, that sounds pretty cool.' . . . If they don't want me here, there's a part of me that would be excited to go play in a different market. And I know some day that's going to happen. Some day they're going to come around and say, 'Shane, we don't want you anymore.' When that happens, I look forward to that new challenge. Part of me can't wait for that and part of me is dreading it."
Barnett has poked his head in on Doan and the other NHL players skating in Scottsdale lately and has been impressed by Doan's leaner appearance and his improved lateral quickness.
"I think he's going to take his game to another level this year in the scoring area," Barnett said. "He's got the quickness and jump that comes from a committed off-season. . . . You'd be hard pressed to jointly author a better story than the one that is about halfway written by this organization and Shane Doan. . . . The only part missing is the chapters about winning and that's why it's only half-written to this point."
Victories sought Doan is eager to win, too.
In 10 NHL seasons, he's played in just 32 playoff games and none since 2001-02.
That playoff drought is why the Coyotes continually have changed their roster the past four seasons, looking for the right mix of players.
Doan, who turns 30 next month, said although the changes are understandable, they can be frustrating.
"It's tough losing friends," Doan said. "Guys like Mike Johnson and Paul Mara, I've been playing with them for a long time. But if the team had been winning we wouldn't have that turnover. It's frustrating. I don't like that. I like stability and knowing who your linemates are and going into every year knowing I've played with this guy for three years and know what to expect instead of every year going in and being like, 'This guy's new, that guy's new, this guy's new.' "
Doan has been the constant with this franchise and has gradually evolved from an 18-year-old fourth-liner to a captain, All-Star and Olympian.
Now he's focused on becoming an elite scorer.
"Thirty goals is the minimum that I should be able to get," Doan said. "I want to score 40-plus goals this year and be a guy they can count on every night offensively and create stuff. Those are the expectations I have for myself. I have something to prove."
