Coyotes initiate buyout on Mike Ribeiro's contract: GM Maloney says signing was a 'mistake'

The Phoenix Coyotes surprised the hockey world by initiating a buyout on forward Mike Ribeiro's contract on Friday afternoon and they've since opened up about their reasoning.

General manager Don Maloney told reporters the four-year, $22-million contract the Coyotes signed Ribeiro to last summer was a "mistake." Although the Coyotes were aware of concerns surrounding Ribeiro, they thought they could handle the forward.

Maloney told Sarah McLellan of azcentral sports the issue was not his contract. "Mike had some real behavioral issues we felt we could not tolerate going forward."

He also mentioned Ribeiro was seeking help for his "behavioral issues" this summer.

While the Coyotes took their time making this decision, Renaud Lavoie reports Ribeiro's end of season meeting with the team went well and there was no indication of a buyout.

If the buyout does go through, the Coyotes will retain $1.944 million of his salary on their cap until 2019-20.