The National Hockey League’s free-agent signing frenzy began this week, and the big-market Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers are throwing eight-figure contracts at superstars Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Coyotes, who are operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, are shopping in the discount section.
Among the Coyotes’ significant signings is goalie Jason LaBarbera, who won just eight of 24 games last season for the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. The team also netted aging journeyman
defenseman Adrian Aucoin.
Although terms were not disclosed, neither signing is expected to stretch the Coyotes’ budget too much. Last year, the money-losing team spent about $43 million on its roster, more than $10 million below the maximum NHL teams are allowed to spend.
Finances this year may be even more closely scrutinized as a battle over who will own the team, and where the Coyotes will play, happens in bankruptcy court.
Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney conceded he’d like to have the same money to spend as the league’s more prosperous team, but at this point, he’s limited.
“We’re not going to be able to go out and grab that scorer who is an All-Star,” Maloney told The Associated Press this week. But, “there’s enough room in this budget to put a good team on the ice, and to continue to get better.”
The Coyotes, who have never turned a profit since moving to Arizona from Winnipeg, filed for bankruptcy in May after majority owner Jerry Moyes refused to backstop the team’s losses.
Moyes sought to sell the team to BlackBerry mogul Jim Balsillie, who would move the Coyotes to Canada, but the NHL is backing a rival bid that would keep the team in suburban Phoenix.
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