The last few weeks have been a strange, slow countdown to some sort of inevitable end for Coyotes forward Shane Doan.

He’s 38 years old. He’s going to be 39 at the start of next season. He has just 13 goals in 71 games played this year. So there are essentially two options for Doan.

Either he retires, realizes that in his last deal, he probably made a bad decision (from a hockey perspective, not personally) and moves on to not burden himself in Arizona next year. Or requests a trade. Either way, per the language we’ve seen from Doan of late, the Coyotes legend seemingly won’t be back as his team’s management tanks/rebuilds for the future.

Said Doan to The Province

“I know owners and management, they’ve got long-term goals for everything,” said Doan. “That’s their job. My job as a player is to win. Obviously, that doesn’t jibe with what’s left in my career. It was not my idea and not my ideal situation.”

It’s almost like we don’t even need a trade request from Doan, since he has been critical of the Arizona situation for the last week and called it “embarrassing.”

When Doan signed with the Coyotes in the summer of 2012, his loyalty for the organization won out. He wanted certain assurances that ownership was moving in the right direction. He needed to know the Coyotes would be competitive. His family was comfortable there. He had embraced the city and its people and they loved him as a guy who stayed in spite of all the ownership issues. He was, is and always will be Mr. Coyote.

But since then they haven’t made the playoffs.

Mike Smith has fallen off, in spite of how he has played the last month. The Coyotes are in seller mode. Doan is as proud an athlete as they come, and he is seeing his career finish in disappointing fashion in the desert without a Stanley Cup in his past, and likely not next year with Arizona.

Should he retire?

According to Arizona Sports, as of about a month ago, Doan scoffed at the idea.

"No, I haven't," he told Burns and Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Wednesday. "I signed a contract and my contract, I've got another year on my contract and that's pretty important to me.

And if Doan doesn’t want to retire (there is that pesky final contract year at over $4.55 million according to NHL Numbers, which is a lot of change), then what could be his situation in Arizona?

Again, per the Sun

“There’s no one that’s 38 years old that thinks it’s a good idea to say, ‘Let’s rebuild.’ But again, that’s not my job,” said Doan.

So this summer, a Doan trade seems to make the most sense for all parties. Even if the ‘Desert Dogs’ get Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid in the 2015 Draft, Doan just doesn't fit in Arizona's current situation. Doan is an emotional guy, but judging by these qutoes it sounds like he has basically already requested a trade.

So now what? Would a team want a player with a $5.3 million salary cap hit who will score under 15 goals next season?

Probably not. But all good things must come to an end. He had a good run in Arizona. He helped save the franchise in the greater Phoenix area, and now may be the time for this long ride for Doan, that started in Winnipeg and ended in Glendale, to finish.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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