Armstrong signs multiyear contract to remain Coyotes GM

Bill Armstrong signed a multiyear contract to remain general manager of the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The 53-year-old enters his fourth season as GM since he was hired Sept. 17, 2020. Arizona has added key players during Armstrong's tenure, this offseason trading for defenseman Sean Durzi and signing free agent forwards Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad, and defensemen Troy Stecher and Matt Dumba.

Forward prospects Logan Cooley (No. 3, 2022 NHL Draft) and Conor Geekie (No. 11, 2022), and defenseman Dmitry Simashev (No. 6, 2023), were all selected by Armstrong and the Coyotes front office.

“It's an exciting time,” Armstrong said. “It's one of those things where you get your first contract and a shot in the NHL to be a GM. And then you think, ‘Oh, my God, would I be honored enough to get a second deal?’ And now here we are with that contract, so it's an exciting day for myself, my family and also for the staff and the organization.”

The Coyotes also have a core of young players including 22-year-old forward Matias Maccelli and 25-year-old forward Clayton Keller, who had 86 points (37 goals, 49 assists) last season to tie Keith Tkachuk (1996-97) for the most in a season for the Coyotes since the franchise moved to Arizona from Winnipeg prior to the 1996-97 season.

Andre Tourigny signed a three-year contract to remain coach Aug. 23.

"For the past three years, Bill has done an excellent job restructuring our hockey operations department and rebuilding our hockey team," Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo said. "He has acquired elite talent through the draft, trades, and free agency, and has established a winning culture by adding a great coaching staff and other key hockey operations personnel. I am confident that under his leadership, the Coyotes will soon become a perennial playoff team and we will continue to work towards our goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to the Valley."

Armstrong joined the Coyotes after he was assistant general manager of the St. Louis Blues, helping build the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2019.

"Bill has a great eye for talent, and he has done a fantastic job assembling an excellent team on and off the ice," Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez said. "He has worked extremely hard, stayed true to his plan, and has earned the trust and respect of ownership, our coaches, our players, and our fans. We look forward to continuing our work together as we strive for our ultimate goal of delivering a Stanley Cup to Arizona."

The Coyotes were 28-40-14 last season with 70 points, a 13-point improvement from 2021-22 and their highest total since they had 74 in 2019-20, their lone Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in the past 11 seasons.

“I think it's a lot of steps that you have to take,” Armstrong said. “We have to become a better team than we were last year. I believe we can take those steps. The players this year are a lot different than they were last year. They didn't really know what they had last year coming in as a team, and now people are really excited about coming to play for us. The guys are in earlier. You can see them practicing. So success for myself and the franchise is taking some steps, taking some small steps this year to become a better team, which also allows us to buy some time for our younger players.”