Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

The Coyotes expected to move on without winger Radim Vrbata – and they will as Vrbata accepted a two-year, $10 million offer from the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday evening – but they were in serious talks to keep the free agent leading up to his decision to ultimately go elsewhere.

"I had several communications with Radim directly," General Manager Don Maloney said. "He wanted to stay, was very, very flexible in what we were talking about. So the answer is yes, I thought there was a very good chance under those terms that we would be able to keep him."

But the Coyotes offer wasn't anywhere near what the Canucks tabled. Still, they did present a pitch that included more stability and were prepared to include a limited no-movement clause, Maloney said. Vrbata's deal with the Canucks includes a limited no-trade clause. The Coyotes also had the advantage of being the only NHL team Vrbata has had consistent success with.

Of Vrbata's 215 career goals, 137 have come with the Coyotes despite having played with four other clubs.

"To Radim's credit, he was really making every attempt to see if it could work in taking really a significant reduction to where he ended up," Maloney said. "It's one of those things we would have been happy to keep him under the conditions that we had available for him. It was a longer-term deal on the table. I think it was close, but obviously Vancouver stepped up and gave him a very good contract of a shorter duration. Hey, we keep moving forward."

Vrbata was with the Coyotes for two stints. He posted career-highs in goals (27) and points (56) in 2007-08 for the team but left via free agency after that season to sign a three-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. But his production fizzled there, and Vrbata ended up finishing out the season playing in his native Czech Republic.

In the summer of 2009, he was traded back to the Coyotes and Vrbata's career was rejuvenated. In 2011-12, he had his best season yet – 35 goals and 62 points. During his time with the Coyotes, Vrbata's reached the 20-goal mark in every season except two. One was the lockout-shortened season and in the other he scored 19.

His previous deal with the Coyotes was a three-year contract worth $9 million and after his contributions as a top-six winger, on the power play and in shootout, it wasn't hard to envision a raise in his future.

"He's been a good soldier for us," Maloney said. "I have no hard feelings. He got himself what I think is a very good deal, and that's good for him and his family."

With Vrbata gone, the Coyotes will stick to their initial off-season plan to keep an eye out for potential tweaks via the free agent market or trades but also keep a few roster spots available for prospects.

"We continue to open up opportunity for younger people," Maloney said. "It's that simple. I think ultimately, long-term, it's what we should be doing anyway. What we were talking with Radim was so attractive financially for us, it forced us to look in his direction again.

"But if you'd ask me three days ago, I had totally committed to leaving opportunity for some of our younger people. So that's what we'll revert back to and keep ourselves more flexible financially, and we'll just wait for the next deal to come."