Radim Vrbata happy to remain with Arizona Coyotes

It’s been a nerve-wracking couple of days for Radim Vrbata, but he can be at ease now that he’ll be remaining with the Arizona Coyotes after Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline passed without the 35-year-old forward moving on in a deal.

“I’m happy about that. I was saying all along that there was a reason why I signed here,” he told reporters. “I wanted to finish this season here, so I’m glad nothing happened.”

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Set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, Vrbata was on the radar on a few NHL teams but no offers came general manager John Chayka’s way that were good enough to part with the team’s leading scorer.

“We just made a decision that we’re still trying to grow here, have a competitive team and finish off the season well with our good, young group,” Chayka said. “Radim was a guy that unless it was a great offer we were going to keep him. You set your threshold, and we were looking around to see if we could maximize our return like any player we have, but just decided at the end of the day to keep him.”

Currently in the middle of a three-game road trip, Vrbata said he didn’t pack anything extra in anticipation of a move. He did feel stronger that a trade could be coming once he saw Martin Hanzal and Ryan White get shipped to Minnesota last week.

Vrbata, who’s in his third tour of duty with the Coyotes, has had his best years while in Arizona. He said he wasn’t fully committed to staying in the NHL next season, noting it would be a family decision whether he returns or decides to go home to the Czech Republic; but if there’s a contract to be hammered out, it would likely be with the Coyotes.

“This is the organization that I want to be in,” he said. “But we will talk probably more after the season.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy