Coyotes 'can take that next step' this season, GM says

The Arizona Coyotes are preparing for the adventure of a lifetime.

They will play two preseason games against the Los Angeles Kings in Melbourne, Australia, as part of the 2023 NHL Global Series on Sept. 22 and 23. There will be jet lag and other adjustments for a 16,442-mile trip to and from a time zone 17 hours ahead of what they're used to.

General manager Bill Armstrong said the challenge presented in also a privilege.

"I believe the goodness of Australia is that we get to experience something that only one other team other than us gets to experience playing hockey over there," Armstrong said in a wide-ranging interview with NHL.com. "I think that's going to be a huge bonding thing for us as an organization. We're not going to be bonded by Christmastime, we're going to be bonded before our first (regular-season) game takes place. I think coaches yearn to have their natural team together and that gives an opportunity for our coach right away to work with our team right out of the get-go, so I think that's a big positive if we can fight off the jet lag and get our legs underneath us."

They should start training camp invigorated after trading for defenseman Sean Durzi and signing free agent forwards Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad, and defenseman Troy Stecher. Matias Maccelli, a 22-year-old forward, signed a two-year contract July 17 after finishing fourth in voting for the 2023 Calder Trophy, given to the NHL rookie of the year. Logan Cooley , a 19-year-old forward selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract July 27. He joins a group of young players -- forwards Dylan Guenther (20), Josh Doan (21) and Conor Geekie (19), and defensemen J.J. Moser (23) and Maveric Lamoureux (19) -- chosen in the NHL Draft since Armstrong was hired by the Coyotes on Sept. 17, 2020, two seasons after winning the Stanley Cup as assistant GM of the Blues.

This season will be the second at Mullett Arena after the city of Glendale, Arizona, terminated the Coyotes' lease at Gila River Arena following the 2021-22 season. A public vote went against a proposed Tempe Sports and Entertainment district May 17, creating uncertainty about their future in the greater Phoenix area.

Armstrong spoke with NHL.com about the growth of the Coyotes, balancing development with competing to win, blocking out distractions and what sold the free agents on Arizona.

How have you and will continue to toe that line between developing and winning as many games as you can?

"I think the biggest thing is back when I first took over, my thought process was if you're going to win a championship, you have to build a championship front office. That starts with your amateur scouting. Then it goes into your coaching staff. Then it goes into your pro staff and then it goes into your development staff, people that you really need to be difference-makers behind the scenes, along with a lot of technology and pushing the pace to become a new wave organization. We believe in the most amount of information, the best analytics, the best sports science, the best strength staff, everything that we can do to gain an edge. I think the biggest misconception about the Coyotes is we're floundering with an arena. Guys that we acquired through free agency, I said, 'Listen, I don't build rinks. I build organizations and I build teams and we're trying to build a championship team here in the desert and here's what we can do for you to bring you in and make you a Coyote. This is the opportunity that's in front of you.' Players bought in.

"Everybody wants stability. That comes over time just with the fact of building chemistry with certain players. It's been a tough two years in the desert in terms of watching our team with the rebuild in place and taking bad contracts. Now it's getting to the good stuff. Listen, we're going to have some challenges. We're going have some moments we're not very good, but we've got an ability now to go to into the ring from the first day of training camp. Now we can take that next step. The next step for us is trying to play meaningful games the whole year and push to see how good we can become."

The Coyotes have done a very good job of blocking out distractions from the arena situation and future in Arizona. How do you think that resilience will benefit you, help stay in the now and achieve those goals of winning more games and clinching a Stanley Cup Playoff berth?

"It's living in the moment now. I think what people don't understand is probably when you're down here, it's a little bit easier to ignore the noise because of the simple fact that when you're in here, it's an all-hockey environment. You get locked into the team and you get locked into everybody's passion around the team starting with our coach, Andre Tourigny, and what he's done to help our culture down here. I think the players ignore the white noise because they're so dug into making themselves better and making the team better. They're involved in the process, and they're locked into becoming the best we can be down here."

Zucker, Kerfoot, Bjugstad, and Stecher are NHL veterans who chose to sign with the Coyotes, the latter two returning after they were traded away last season. What do you think sold them on the desert?

"I think it's a combination of everything. I think it's the excitement that they get from the energy from the organization, from the coaching staff. I think we practice different. We develop skills different. We warm up different than any other NHL team. The way that we do things behind the scenes and how much love we give to the players and making sure that they're at their peak, whether it's eating and our nutritionist, or our sports science guys, making sure that they know what they're eating, what time they need to be sleeping. It's a science behind the scenes, and I think that's spread throughout the NHL and that's why you can see guys wanting to come here. They see guys having success in the desert and they see the team taking the next step with a coaching staff that's changed our culture here. They get excited about that. That's why you see guys come back and that's why you see guys join us. They can feel the momentum slowly swinging and the amount of good young prospects that are being infused into this organization. There's an excitement around the Coyotes."

What do you like about Durzi's game that made it important to bring him to Arizona?

"He's going to be on our No. 1 power play. At times, he'd get the second unit in L.A., and we figured this guy can be a difference-maker and can play on our first-unit power play. He's also a volume puck-mover. Those guys are hard to find; he can move a puck and transition. We get excited about that. We feel there's still parts of his game that he can trim up to become an even better player defensively. There's the sure things that he'll buy into. We did our homework on what he's like as a person and a player, and we fell in love with the player and the person off the ice, so we were able to get a trade done for him and he's going be an impactful player for us this year."