While seemingly going unqualified today, the Arizona Coyotes have extended right wing Christian Fischer on a one-year contract, according to the team. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports the deal is worth the equivalent of his qualifying offer, coming in at $1,125,875 for the one year. That could suggest Fischer and Arizona agreed to terms before qualifying offers were due today. The team also extended defenseman Cam Dineen on a one-year, two-way deal with undisclosed financial terms.
Drafted in the second round in 2015, Fischer’s development has plateaued in the past few years. While he likely won’t be the high-end middle-six power forward Arizona thought they were drafting, he’s still a decent contributor and, most importantly for Arizona, an experienced NHL player under contract. It helps matters that Fischer’s physical and exciting brand of hockey has endeared him to Coyotes fans, making it certainly a wise business decision to keep him around.
Fischer will be just the eighth Coyotes forward on a one-way contract next season. With Arizona needing to hit the cap floor, they’ll likely throw some money around in free agency to get players some cash that they wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else, but it’s a risky bet on having enough players and enough money. Retaining players like Fischer is crucial for the franchise to survive the next few years on and off the ice.
In 53 games last season, Fischer had five goals in 10 points. He has 84 points in 318 games in the desert.
Dineen 24, registered seven assists in his first 34 NHL games last season. The team’s third-round pick in 2016 figures to be a contender for their seventh defense spot next season and could even lock down a bottom-pairing role.
Fish is a good soldier who should anchor the 4th line with O’Brien and Kassian. Lots of hits in that group.