The Arizona Coyotes have signed restricted free agent defenseman Michael Stone to a one-year contract extension general manager John Chayka announced on Thursday. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed by the Coyotes, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that it is worth $4 million. Stone was set for an arbitration hearing with the club on Aug. 4 in Toronto.
#Coyotes G.M. John Chayka on signing d-man @StoneM26 to a one-year contract: pic.twitter.com/Wwno9YKZ3m
— Dave Vest (@davest4yotes) July 28, 2016
Stone, 26, played in 75 games with the Coyotes during the 2015-16 season, registering 6 goals and career-highs in assists (30) and points (36). The 6’3″, 210-pound defenseman led the team with 143 blocked shots. In parts of six seasons with the club, Stone has skated in 279 games and tallied 23 goals and 87 points.
Stone was drafted by the Coyotes 69th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and returned to the Calgary Hitman of the Western Hockey League (WHL) the next two seasons before beginning his professional career with the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League (AHL).
A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Stone is the older brother of Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone.
News of Stone’s one-year contract comes on the same day that the Coyotes announced that the team signed defenseman Connor Murphy to a six-year contract.