West Notes: Coyotes, Ward, Cecconi, Clague

While there have been various reports throughout the season that the Coyotes were making progress on finding someone to add to their ownership group, Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic reports that no progress has been made on that front or their ongoing arena situation.  He notes that the club approached the NBA’s Phoenix Suns regarding a possible partnership of a downtown area but that Suns owner Robert Sarver wasn’t interested in such a venture.  With owner Andrew Barroway continuing to look for someone to add to the ownership group, it’s likely that this will be the focus for now and that arena talks will be on the backburner for the foreseeable future.

Elsewhere out West:

• The Blackhawks will likely be without goaltender Cam Ward for at least another week due to his knee injury, notes Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times. The injury was sustained a week ago with an expected return timeline of seven-to-ten days so it appears he’s behind schedule in his recovery.  In the meantime, Corey Crawford will continue to get the bulk of the work as he continues to work his way back following another concussion while youngster Collin Delia will remain as the backup.
• Stars blueline prospect Gavin Cecconi is still leaning towards eschewing signing with Dallas and opting for free agency, reports Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required). The 2015 draft pick wrapped up his senior year with Michigan and may be looking to the open market in the hopes of finding a quicker path to playing time as when healthy, Dallas has good defensive depth.  The Stars will hold Cecconi’s rights up to August 15th.
• Kings prospect Kale Clague has a broken bone in his foot that will keep him out of the lineup for the next four weeks, relays Curtis Zupke of the LA Times (Twitter link). The defenseman has had a decent start to his professional career with 29 points in 52 games with AHL Ontario and he had a chance to be a recall down the stretch to get him some NHL experience.