Alex Goligoski's future is now in his hands.
Related: Coyotes GM: Goligoski 'first domino to fall' for many potential moves
The 30-year-old had his negotiating rights traded to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday - giving the club roughly two weeks of exclusive negotiating power - a right that Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill admits Goligoski was owed.
"He's earned this right. He's earned this right to become a (unrestricted free agent)," Nill said, according to NHL.com's Mark Stepneski. "I told him I fully understand that. For him and his family, he needs to see what is the right fit monetarily-wise and team-wise. If there is something that fits, good for him. He was a good player for us."
Goligoski had been a member of the Stars since the 2010-11 season when he was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nill admits the club did make an attempt to re-sign him. However, when negotiations failed he did his best to find a suitor for Goligoski.
"We negotiated with him," said Nill. "We made an offer and in the end we just couldn't agree on terms, which was fine. Negotiations were very well taken on both sides. In the end, Alex wanted to see what was out there.
"When I was talking to teams, Arizona showed a lot of interest. So, I called Alex and said, 'Do you want to go and talk to another team that showed interest in you?' And he thought that might be a good idea, give him another feel for the market. So, we ended up making the deal with Arizona."
Goligoski concludes his time with the Stars with 32 goals and 187 points in 385 games.
