Prior to today’s Coyotes optional practice, I had the chance to speak with Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney about what exactly was going on with Petr Prucha getting re-called on re-entry waivers yet still staying in San Antonio. Maloney was very candid about what went on the last 24 or so hours. Here’s what he had to say.

1-5-2011-Coyotes GM Don Maloney – Prucha Waiver wire transaction by AZ Vibe

Q: I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about Petr Prucha. He was recalled on re-entry waivers and is still back in San Antonio?

Maloney: We had a number of conversations with his agent about potentially going back to Europe. He wanted to see if there’s any interest from another team so we recalled him. He remained in San Antonio and we’re assigning him to back San Antonio today. When you recall a player on re-entry you have to keep him on your roster for 24 hours which we did. I’m still having discussions with his agent about his future with us and what we might to do with Petr.

Q: You still like him (Prucha) to be a Phoenix Coyote?

Maloney: Sure! I like Petr. I like him as a player but nobody likes his salary in the minors. A positive for us we have three or four players arguably that would be recalled ahead of Petr (like) Boedker, (or) Brett MacLean. A player like him that’s been in the NHL for a long time he would like to go back and play in Europe and maybe go back next year and look for an opportunity there as well. It’s part of the business side of the game. We work together and see if we can find some sort of financial arrangement that makes sense for both of us.

Q: So no decision has been reached yet?

No, not yet.