Tanguay to Phoenix - Updated 9:00AM

As reported first here this morning around 7:00, I received confirmation from a source around 2:00AM that Tanguay had indeed agreed in principle to a contract with the Coyotes. It seems as if my source was extremely on target, because word is now coming in that it is all but complete. It is rare that I am the first to break anything, as my sources are not widespread by any means, but I was very confident in putting this up because I knew the accuracy of my source. I first reported a deal for about 3 years worth $5 million per season, and it appears that it will be fairly accurate to the true deal.

According to my source right now, the deal is about 99.9% done, just waiting on final paperwork to be approved by the NHL office and a press release to be passed from the Coyotes.

Updated - 11:00AM: The delay for the announcement may be the time difference. Apparently, the deal may have been agreed upon late in Phoenix, which would mean three hours later here on the East Coast. This morning, as Eklund reported, several teams mentioned they were still in on the hunt. This may be because Phoenix hadn't submitted anything to the league offices and nothing was deemed as officially done. It is only 8:00AM in Phoenix right now, and I expect to hear something by 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time.

Updated - 9:00AM Wednesday: This is the reason I don't do rumors, because of the fact that when even the slightest thing changes, the entire deal can be thrown off. I spoke with my source last night who apologized sincerely to me, but he said that something happened internally. Apparently when Tanguay's party and the Coyotoes "closed out the deal" on Monday night, both sides had confused the number they agreed too in terms of salary per year. Upon revisiting the "final touches" on Tuesday morning, both sides realized a big mistake was made, and the deal has been held off for now. Phoenix is still leading the pack by far, and something may get done quicker than expected. It is very unfortunate because Tanguay and the Coyotes make sense.

I will let you know more as soon as I get it. And trust me, this will be one of the few times a rumor is ever followed on this site.

-Justin