Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

It’s been four years since the Coyotes have made the playoffs, an outbreak of losses escalating into a rebuild that is still in progress.

They’ve reorganized their management structure by dismissing a tenured veteran and replacing him with the youngest general manager in league history.

On top of that, it remains unclear publicly where the team will permanently reside in the Valley – the latest episode in a series of off-ice adversities that have dogged the franchise for years.

And yet, the Coyotes were convinced they were an appealing destination for NHL free agents.

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“This is a team that is looking to win,” President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said.

Arizona had targets in mind, perceived complements to the group that had been on its radar for some time, and an hour after the signing period opened July 1, the Coyotes had the two players they coveted signed to contracts.

The arrival of defenseman Alex Goligoski and winger Jamie McGinn was only the start of a roster reset that is ongoing, but they’re the two additions with perhaps the most potential to incite improvement as a top-four blue liner and a forward who can play on the first or second line.

To help their pursuit, the Coyotes used a tactic they had never tried in the past with this brain trust at the helm.

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They hosted both players for a visit to the Valley to clearly communicate their sales pitch – a decision that might have made the difference in being able to impressively satisfy their wish list and snag two players projected to be prized free agents.

“We wanted to make sure that they knew exactly what we’re trying to accomplish,” coach Dave Tippett said. “There’s been instability in the franchise and a change in management. There’s a lot of questions there. So it’s a matter of just making sure they know the direction that the team’s going. We’ll leave that decision up to them. Fortunately, we were able to work something out for both of them.”

Taking a different approach

The concept of bringing players in for a tour was first mentioned by Tippett when the current ownership group acquired the team in 2013 – a tool the Stars had used to try to lure in free agents when Tippett was with Dallas.

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It was reintroduced not long after the team overhauled the front office, promoting then-26-year-old John Chayka to GM from his post as assistant general manager after firing Don Maloney, giving Tippett a new five-year contract with the added responsibility of executive vice president of hockey operations and naming co-owner Gary Drummond president of hockey operations.

“Everything we’re doing now, it’s all about winning,” LeBlanc said. “We do not want to be underachievers. We’ve gone through a lot – this franchise has gone through a lot. But there’s finally stability in the franchise, and we needed to convey that.”

McGinn was targeted for his goal-scoring ability, someone who could finish pucks around the net and has a track record of humming around the 20-goal mark.

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But improving the defense was a top priority; just how important it was became clear when the team acquired Goligoski’s rights from the Stars for a 2016 fifth-round draft pick to gain an exclusive negotiating window with the 31-year-old before he was eligible to become a free agent.

Arizona wanted to add his offensive instincts, mobile style and versatility to its back end.

“Could we fall on our face? Absolutely,” LeBlanc said. “Could we then be then fodder for writers that would say, ‘See? Nobody wants to go there?' We felt we had the right story, and it looks like we were right.”

Showstopping introduction

Goligoski had the Coyotes on a no-trade list, a decision he said was a result of the uncertainty about the team’s footing in Arizona, but he was open to exploring the possibility of signing with the team and waived the clause to facilitate the trade.

After landing his rights June 16, a little more than two weeks before the start of free agency, the Coyotes asked Goligoski if he’d be willing to visit Arizona and he agreed, arriving June 20 – a Monday – with his wife, Amanda, from their offseason home in Minneapolis.

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“You go and try to gather as much information as you can,” said Goligoski, a self-professed hockey nerd who was already familiar with the Coyotes’ on-ice product and their prospects.

The pair was picked up around 11 a.m. at the airport by Tippett and his wife, Wendy, and were immediately taken to Gila River Arena for a tour.

Howler and members of the Paw Patrol, the Coyotes' promotional team, were there to greet them with signage throughout the arena welcoming Goligoski.

When McGinn made his visit June 29 during the six-day window teams had to interview free agents, he received the same reception.

“They made it first class,” he said.

Inside, highlights splashed on the video board including the positives of Arizona and how the team is on the rise. Goligoski even spotted himself in a Coyotes jersey in the montage.

Both checked out the facility, meeting team personnel – from equipment managers and trainers to front-office staff.

“We’re all kind of pulling in the same direction to build something special,” Chayka said. “I think that connection is kind of what people buy into.”

In the locker room, Coyotes jerseys with the players’ names and numbers were hanging at stalls.

“It was my wife’s first professional jersey,” Goligoski said. “She’s pretty excited about that.”

Gift baskets were also waiting for them that included local beers, salsa and jams, a couple Apple Watches and a Coyotes dog leash; Goligoski has an English bulldog named Sully and McGinn a cockapoo called Lola.

“It’s not a gimmick,” Chayka said. “It’s to show that you’ve been thorough in your analysis, you’ve been thorough in your approach.”

Delivering the message

After some down time at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Goligoski went to Tippett’s house and Wendy gave Amanda a tour of the area and where the couple could potentially live – a showcase of the local lifestyle that Tippett also provided McGinn and his girlfriend, Daniella, during their visit.

“We got the hockey going in the right direction,” Chayka said. “We got a team that we think is the most exciting team in hockey right now and when we’re winning and you can live in Arizona with some of the amenities that it offers … I really believe it’s unmatched.”

Hockey talk followed with each evening wrapping with a dinner at The Silverleaf Club in North Scottsdale – both players had the salmon – that included Tippett and Chayka with captain Shane Doan joining Goligoski’s meal.

Tippett and Chayka outlined their vision for the Coyotes, the strengths of the team and how each player would fit into the lineup.

“We’re doing everything we can to win,” Chayka said. “I think players want to go where they believe that’s the case.”

During the visits, LeBlanc also provided an update on the team’s arena situation and that information answered Goligoski’s No.1 question of whether or not the team was stable. His second priority centered on if the team was trying win.

“I didn’t even have to ask them,” he said. “They knew what I was going to want to hear and did their best to display their idea of what was going to happen.”

It was important for McGinn to go to a team that would offer increased ice time and a chance to be a leader, opportunities that mattered to him as he embarked on his ninth season in the league.

And he appeared to receive the intel he needed.

“It definitely helped me with the decision-making,” he said.

Defining moment

The day after Goligoski’s visit, Tippett and Chayka accompanied Goligoski and Amanda back to Minnesota on a private plane and met with Goligoski’s agent in-person to discuss a potential deal to show how serious they were about adding him.

By Wednesday, a five-year, $23.375 million contract was finalized.

“It’s a testament to the work we’ve done here and the reputation ownership is building up in terms of their investing in the infrastructure and giving the players a first-class organization … that you can take a player who kind of was uncertain of the situation and leery and when they do their research and talk to some people, they end up signing a five-year deal,” Chayka said.

With McGinn, the Coyotes had to wait for free agency to open at 9 a.m. Friday to begin negotiating. The 27-year-old remained open-minded once teams could field offers, not wanting to rule out any options.

But at 10 a.m., the team announced the signing.

“I want to feel like I’m wanted and appreciated, and Arizona showed that right from the start,” McGinn said.

Despite accomplishing the intended resolutions, team brass wasn’t sure if the pitches were successful once the visits concluded.

What did seem clear to LeBlanc, though, was that the Coyotes wouldn’t have signed Goligoski and McGinn if they didn’t bring the two to the Valley.

“You cannot trade the value of a face-to-face interaction versus telephone,” he said, “because telephone – who knows what they’re doing. They could be playing with their dog or dealing with 13 other things. But to know you have that face time, to have that ability to have a direct interaction, you can’t beat it.”

Goligoski and his wife were “blown away” by what they saw, but he didn't know if he would have made the same decision if he didn’t take the time to take the tour.

“I wouldn’t have been as inclined (to sign) had I not gone there,” he said.

These were the only two players the team hosted – “We went 2-for-2,” Chayka said – and while the Coyotes hope to eventually have a reputation that speaks for itself once their performance improves and their arena issue is settled, they plan to continue to pursue players this way on an as-needed basis.

The need to address uncertainty about the franchise could fade, but explaining just how much a player is coveted appears to be a tenet of how the team plans to operate.

“People want to feel that they’re wanted and they’re going to be a part of your organization,” LeBlanc said. “I think it’s really important to do that, and I would never see us losing that desire to try to make people feel that they’d be a part of it.”