Armstrong Reflects at All-Star Break: ‘Pressure Helps You Grow’

Heading into the 2023-24 season, Arizona Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong said the goal was for the young team to play in meaningful games in its third year of a rebuild.

A quick peek at the team’s post-All-Star break schedule, along with the current standings, show just that.

The Coyotes have 49 points through the season’s first 48 games, marking their highest point total since posting 55 after the same number of games in the 2019-20 season. That year, of course, Arizona topped the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s COVID-19 Qualifying Round before falling to the Colorado Avalanche in the First Round of the playoffs.

The Desert Dogs are five points out of the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot behind the St. Louis Blues – with one game in hand – and a roster that has been disrupted by injuries throughout the season is getting some much-needed time to heal up for the stretch run.

“We've been a pretty resilient team, and, and a team that's come out fighting every single night to scrape and call and get points,” Armstrong said. “We put ourselves in a pretty good position heading down the stretch, and now we're going to see what we can do.

“It’s a great test for our group.”

The season-over-season improvement under third-year head coach André Tourigny has been as evident as ever. Four-time All-Star Clayton Keller leads the team in goals (20), assists (25, tied with Matias Maccelli), and points (45), building off the career-best 86-point season he put together in 2022-23.

Armstrong said the 25-year-old continues to improve his game, which is perhaps the most exciting part of all.

“Keller’s competitiveness is what leads our club every single night in trying to take the next step,” he said. “He’s put together some really good years, and he's only getting going. He's still a young man and has a lot of growth ahead of him.

“We love how he leads our team.”

Matias Maccelli (32 points), Lawson Crouse (29), and Nick Schmaltz (29) round out the team’s top-four scorers through 48 games, and a number of new faces have also played a big role in the team’s step forward this season.

2023-24 newcomers Sean Durzi and Alex Kerfoot have played critical roles in the team’s growth, and both are tied for fifth on the team with 28 points.

Forward Michael Carcone and defenseman Michael Kesselring are each in their first full NHL season, and the former ranks third on the team with 15 goals, while the latter has surprised with four goals and seven assists despite being known more for his defensive style of play.

Nick Bjugstad, meanwhile, is on pace for his best statistical season since a 49-point output with the Florida Panthers in 2017-18.

“There's a lot of unsung heroes for us,” Armstrong said. “The Bjugstads and the Kerfoots of the world, they continue to drive our team along, and those are the guys who are unsung heroes, and maybe have done it better than expected.”

Rookie Logan Cooley has continued to grow in his game while posting 25 points in 48 games despite being just 19 years old in the NHL, and Armstrong said his attention to defense is what has truly made a difference as of late.

“One thing that he doesn't get enough credit for is his competitiveness in the D zone, and how he's modified his game and improved on the D side of the puck,” he said. “At the same time, he's still producing offense and his game continues to grow.”

Dylan Guenther, meanwhile, has made the most of his opportunity with the Coyotes are receiving a midseason call-up with three goals and four assists in 11 NHL games. His production has been so impressive this season with the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL that he is tied for lead the team in points (28) despite having not played with them since early January.

His impact at the NHL level has been equally as noticeable.

“He went down to the American League and he embraced that. We asked him to modify his game and improve, and he came back with a little bit of fire and added a little bit of jump in our lineup,” Armstrong said. “He’s found a little bit of chemistry with Logan Cooley, and they seem to be on the right track and really work well together. I think that's helped Logan's game, and I think it's helped Gunther's game, too.”

And then, of course, there’s the goaltending.

Goalie Connor Ingram is putting together a breakout year in just his second full NHL season, posting a 17-11-1 record this season, while his five shutouts are tied with Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry for the most in the league.

The 26-year-old ranks eighth in wins and save percentage (.916), was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 3, 2023, and is signed through the 2026-27 season, cementing himself as a cornerstone of the resilient Coyotes team.

“That’s been part of our call all year, to get in there and do what you can do to help the team get the win,” Armstrong said. “Everyone seems to have stepped up, and we’ve got a big second half coming up. It’s important, and we’re going to play meaningful games, which is exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

The common denominator is Tourigny, who has worked tirelessly with his assistant coaches and player development staff to instill a culture of hard-working, tough-nosed competitiveness up and down the lineup.

“He gets players to compete and care about the organization, which has put this team forward,” Armstrong said. “He’s done a great job of developing, not only the guys that were here before he came, but the guys that came with him like Guenther and Cooley.

“He's done a great job developing this team to take the next step, and he and his staff are just a pleasure to be around and work with every day to build this franchise into an elite franchise.”

Though those goals remain future-oriented, a second-half schedule that features consistent matchups against elite NHL teams and Stanley Cup favorites is one that will present its share of challenges and adversity.

Those situations, though, are what help young teams learn what it takes to win, and that’s the direction the Coyotes are heading when the second half of the season kicks off on Feb. 8.

“I just love it for our club,” Armstrong said. “You're under pressure to win. You can't put that in a bottle, you have to go through it and experience it, but it's way better for our club and our young guys to have that pressure. Pressure helps you grow. Pressure makes you a better player, and a harder player in the NHL.

“We need that pressure to take the next step.”