Yes Nigel. And Keith. And Scott...

The Coyotes have qualified 12 RFAs including most of those expected including Scott Upshall and Keith Yandle. Bubble players Nigel Dawes and Dan Winnik were qualified as well as Enver Lisin, who has been tendered an offer from a Russian KHL team.

By issuing a qualifying offer, the team essentially keeps the players rights. Players can sign the QO or negotiate for a longer, larger contract. 4 players -- Dawes, Upshall, Winnik and Lepisto have the right to file for arbitration.

Joakim Lindstrom was the only player who spent the majority of his time with the big club last year who was not qualified. He is now a unrestricted free agent.

Here's the official announcement...

http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=432288

No Nigel?

The 5PM Eastern deadline for qualifying restricted free agents has passed. we'll likely get an update from the Coyotes later today on what players they have qualified and perhaps a couple of contract signings.

Seven players who finished the 2008-09 season on the Coyotes roster are RFAs and must be qualified by today. They are Nigel Dawes, Keith Yandle, Scott Upshall, Daniel Winnik, Joakim Lindstron, Enver Lisin and Brian McGrattan. Petr Prucha was also in this group but he signed a two year contract last week. In addition to players from the NHL roster, Josh Tordjman heads a group of 11 players from the San Antonio Rampage who are also RFAs. Defensemen Sami Lepisto and Shawn Heshka, obtained during the draft weekend and forward Stefan Myers who came over in the Steven Rupprecht trade are also RFAs.

So what does this mean?

Well we expect Yandle and Upshall will be qualified without exception. Both of these players are strong NHL assets and will be looking for long term contracts and big raises. Don Maloney has said he would like to get a fair two way contract in place for Enver Lisin. They would mean making a deal before he is qualified. Lepisto, Heshka and Torjdman are probably in the same boat as Lisin. The Coyotes have already announced that McGrattan is not coming back and Winnik may get an AHL contract.

That leaves Nigel Dawes and Joakim Lindstrom as question marks. Both are depth players who a) have flashed some scoring ability and b) are relatively cheap. Lindstrom had 9 goals in 44 games after coming over in a trade with Anaheim and he made $500,000 last year. Dawes made $587,500 and he potted 10 goals, splitting the season between the Yotes and the New York Rangers.

It's hard to see room for both of them in Phoenix. And in what may or may not be a predictor of what is happening, Dawes has been removed from the Coyotes roster on the team web site. Maloney was disappointed in his play after joining the Coyotes and signals seem to point to Nigel moving on next year.

Once the Coyotes publish their qualifying offers and contract signings, it will give a good picture of what roster moves to expect in the next few days.

He Said, She Said

Slow news day today.

The Toronto Star reported that the NHL wants to keep the Reinsdorf-Kaites offer out of the courts until the proxy issue is settled because the offer is far less than the Jim Balsillie offer..

The Star has learned Reinsdorf was prepared to offer an estimated $130 million (all figures U.S.) - far less than Balsillie's $212.5 million package.

"You have a judge in a bankruptcy court whose responsibility is to protect
the interests of creditors and in doing that he has to maximize any value he can
get," said Richard Powers, a professor of business at the Rotman School of
Business at the University of Toronto. "Look at the difference in price."

No kidding. Sure, the offer is lower. But, they are not buying the same things. Reinsdorf-Kaites is buying what will be a significant and costly turnaround property in Arizona. Balsillie wants to buy the rights to a new team in established hockey territory. Of course, he wants to end run the rules that govern not only the NHL but the same principles that govern every professional sports league. That's why it is a conditional offer.

Advantage to the NHL. The judge has ruled that the Reinsdorf-Kaites offer won't be acted upon until the proxy argument is settled. True that a bankruptcy judge has to maximize the value of the asset. But the Balsillie offer is anything but a clean offer.

And our friend Damian Cox (also from the Toronto Star) has checked in with news that Wayne Gretzky has taken a stand. Well, sort of...

Sources indicated yesterday that Wayne Gretzky is "supportive" of the plan presented by Chicago sports czar Jerry Reinsdorf to buy the Phoenix Coyotes
and keep them in Arizona. Gretzky would stay with the team as head coach under the ownership of a group of investors headed by Reinsdorf that would conditionally offer an estimated $130 million (U.S.) for the troubled Phoenix club

Now Gretzky didn't speak to reporters and he is not likely to. He has a tightrope to walk here. On one hand, he's the coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and appears to have little appetite to move back to Canada. Of course he's also a Canadian icon so speaking out against the move does him no good on the home front. Gretzky's inflated coaching contract would probably pay him almost as much over the next two years as if he cashes out with a Balsillie sale. And despite his detractors, there is little question that he likes coaching and wants to continue, In Phoenix.

Still all quiet on the Reinsdorf-Kaites front. Hope they do not get cold feet while this mess plays out.

Gee, How Did That Happen?"

So what have we got here?

For starters, it’s a shame that this circus is deflecting attention from the most exciting NHL playoffs in years. The games have been amazing, the passion is incredible. I believe that each of the eight teams still alive really believe they can win the Stanley Cup this year and it’s making for a fabulous spring.

And in the middle of this great moment for hockey, the unthinkable has happened. The Phoenix Coyotes have dropped a turd in the punch bowl.

Well, let’s clarify that. It wasn’t the Coyotes as much as their past, possibly present and definitely not future owner Jerry Moyes.

Jerry celebrated Cinco de Mayo by tossing the Coyotes into bankruptcy court and compounded the issue by making a deal to sell the carcass to the NHL’s most arrogant suitor, Jim Balsillie.

Now on one hand, it’s easy to have some sympathy for Mr. Moyes. He’s got more money sunk into this team than most of us will ever see in our lifetimes.

But one comment from Jerry after last week’s hearing made me wonder whether his head was invested as much as his wallet. He told the world that he loaned (former owner) Steve Ellman $5MM “as a favor” to help him keep the Coyotes operating in 2001. Now, 8 years later he’s upside down for $300MM. Now I realize that $5MM to some people is like $500 is to you and me but we’re talking about big casino here. How did we get from $5 Million to $300 Million Dollars? Roll that one around in your mind for a few minutes.

Now under normal circumstances, this was a foreseeable conclusion to another disappointing season in the desert. The Coyotes missed the playoffs (again), attendance was soft (again) and interest from the local media was shall we say modest. However, little about the Coyotes falls under the category of normal circumstances. You see, in November, Mr. Moyes apparently forgot that he mortgaged the farm as well as the animals and the barn by signing a proxy agreement with the National Hockey League. He had to sign that agreement to get loans that kept the franchise afloat.

I’ll save you the pain of reading the entire proxy agreement. (It’s available on a number of web sites including the Toronto Star -- www.thestar.com/sports) Here is the smoking gun.

The undersigned (Moyes and affiliated companies) hereby irrevocably appoints…the commissioner of the NHL as its’ true and lawful attorney and proxy in respect of all of the undersigned’s interests and rights in the club…including, without limitation the following.

(b) The voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation,
termination or reorganization of the club and/or any of its subsidiaries.

I wonder which part of the proxy Mr. Moyes does not understand. I’m not a lawyer but that reads pretty clearly to me. Just to check my sanity, I talked with a bankruptcy attorney whom I respect greatly (my son) and he agrees that the proxy reads clearly.

Now I don’t know if Jerry’s attention span isn’t that great or deep, what are the chances are that he didn’t read or completely understand the proxy that he signed for the National Hockey League? I’m going to guess that he isn’t fully vested in the document and that the NHL may land a knockout punch during the first bankruptcy court hearing next week. His lawyers are well aware of the document but, hey, lawyers will go to court and fight any fight that a client wants. My son told me that too.

If the judge assigned to the case reads the proxy the same way I do, it will be game over for Team Moyes-Balsillie and over fast. The Coyotes will likely be sold to a group that includes local attorney John Kaites and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

The first joust in the courtroom comes on Wednesday when the NHL gets to make their case why they control the Coyotes.

On May 15th we hear from Team Moyes.

And on May 19th (if necessary) – Everybody gets their day in court. I am guessing that May 19th won’t be necessary. For that matter, May 15th may also become available for other activities.

The NHL proxy is a compelling legal document. If somehow, Team Moyes can sidestep that bullet, there are two more cannons pointed in his direction.

He’ll have to deal with the City of Glendale. He would be asking the court to screw a city for generations and generations to come by voiding the 24 years left on the team’s lease and not enforcing the escape clause payment. And he’ll have to fight that battle in an Arizona court. That’s give Glendale a pretty big home field advantage. Bankruptcy proceedings allow companies to escape leases but it’s not a foregone conclusion. When the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to go that route several years ago, a well written arena lease was enforced by bankruptcy court. That ended that end run.

And if he gets this far, then we’ll deal with the thorny issue of selling the club to a (perspective) rogue owner who wants to skirt NHL rules, territorial rights and customs and ship the team off to Southern Ontario. Remember the Balsillie offer is a conditional offer based on moving the team. Those conditions, along with the forced sale would mobilize the legal might of the National Hockey League to preserve their rights to dictate who gets to be in their club and where the teams can set up shop. That would be a legal battle for the ages and one that would likely drag on for several years.

The Moyes to Balsillie pass will likely get broken up in its’ early stages. The chances are good that the Coyotes will get another chance to make Phoenix into a hockey town. Maybe the seriousness of this situation and an improved team will get the public's attention and start pointing the team towards a more successful future.

And depending on how long and far along this issue is litigated, it could drag on years. The people who will get rich on this deal will be the lawyers. All of the many lawyers who have been called into action. And that my friends is why I sent my son to law school.