Former Arizona Coyotes general manager Don Maloney had hoped to re-sign center Martin Hanzal prior to the start of the season, but new GM John Chayka appears to be taking a different path.

"If there was something that made sense, we would probably take a closer look at that because Marty's been a good player for us," Chayka told Arizona Sports on Thursday. "But maybe it's not a bad thing to get into the season and see how things play out."

Hanzal, 29, can become an unrestricted free agent next summer when his current five-year pact expires.

It's familiar territory for the Coyotes, who entered last season with winger Mikkel Boedker unsigned, only to deal him to Colorado at the deadline.

In 64 games last season, Hanzal scored a career-high 41 points, tallying 13 goals and 28 assists.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.