Shane Doan says he was caught off guard when the Arizona Coyotes told him they wouldn't be signing him to another contract.
"I'd say I was surprised," Doan told Dave Burns and John Gambadoro on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Monday. "I wasn't expecting it, so there's an element of surprise in that."
On the other hand, the 40-year-old forward knows full well that hockey is a business.
"I wasn't necessarily shocked that they didn't want me to play (with them) again," he said. "I understand the direction they're going (in), I don't completely agree with a lot of the decisions they've made, but ... I'm a player and ... you sometimes start to think you're bigger than you are, and ... (my) job is (simply) to play. I understand their job is to make decisions like this, and that's what they had to do."
Doan said he was waiting to hear from the Coyotes about whether they wanted him back, and general manager John Chayka met with him Saturday to inform him of the club's intent.
The longtime captain believes it was Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway who opted to move on.
"It was the owner's decision," Doan said Monday. "When (he) got possession of the team, he ... wanted to go with a younger group and me being around might have delayed things. Sometimes, you have to rip the Band-Aid off, and I guess that's kind of the approach they were looking at."
When asked if he had any hard feelings, Doan insisted he won't hold a grudge.
"I don't like the way it ended, and ... I'm not happy. If you talked to me two days ago, it would have been probably a little bit different," he said. "But at the same time, I'm not going throw everything away that I've worked hard to build up as collateral with the Coyotes over an individual's decision.
"I understand it is what it is. Yeah, I'm hurt and I'm upset, and I wish it hadn't ended the way that it (did) ... but I don't think I'm going to be bitter."
Doan's agent, Terry Bross, told 98.7's Craig Morgan earlier Monday that his client is ready to test the free-agent market and wants a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
He'll officially become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
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