Coyotes Sign G.M. Bill Armstrong to Multi-Year Contract Extension

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, September 6, 2023

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA ---Arizona Coyotes Owner, Chairman & Governor Alex Meruelo announced today that the club has signed General Manager Bill Armstrong to a multi-year contract extension. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"For the past three years, Bill has done an excellent job restructuring our hockey operations department and rebuilding our hockey team," said Meruelo. "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."

"Bill has a great eye for talent, and he has done a fantastic job assembling an excellent team on and off the ice," said Coyotes President & CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez. "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."

"I am very grateful to Mr. Meruelo, Alex Meruelo Jr., and Xavier Gutierrez for all of their confidence, trust and continued support," said Armstrong. "Being the General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes is an honor and a privilege and I am very proud of all the hard work that our hockey operations staff, coaching staff, and players have done to improve our organization. We still have a lot of work to do but I firmly believe that we are on the right track to becoming a playoff-caliber team for years to come. We have a very bright future here in Arizona."

Armstrong, 53, was named to his position on September 17, 2020, and is entering his fourth season as the Coyotes GM. During that time, he's been responsible for all hockey-related decisions and has made several key moves to improve the club's depth and talent by adding numerous young, skilled players through trades, waivers, and the NHL Draft. Armstrong has acquired goaltenders Karel Vejmelka, Connor Ingram, and Michael Hrabal; defensemen Sean Durzi, JJ Moser, Juuso Valimaki, Maveric Lamoureux and Dmitry Simashev; and top NHL prospect Logan Cooley along with forwards Dylan Guenther, Jack McBain, Conor Geekie, Daniil But, and Josh Doan. Armstrong also signed several key NHL free agents this summer including Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba, Alex Kerfoot, Nick Bjugstad, Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott, and has positioned the Coyotes for future success by accumulating 34 draft picks for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 NHL Drafts.

Additionally, Armstrong hired Coyotes Head Coach André Tourigny ahead of the 2021-22 season. Tourigny led the Coyotes to a 13-point improvement from 2021-22 to 2022-23, capped with a 28-40-14 record (70 points) last season. In the franchise's first season at Mullett Arena, Tourigny helped guide the Coyotes to an impressive 21-15-5 home record (.573 point percentage).

Before joining the Coyotes, Armstrong served as the St. Louis Blues' Assistant General Manager/Director of Amateur Scouting from 2018-20 and was instrumental in building the Blues team that won the 2019 Stanley Cup. He joined the Blues in July of 2004 as an amateur scout and in August of 2010, he was named as the club's Director of Amateur Scouting where he orchestrated the selections of numerous players who played a role in the Blues capturing the 2019 Stanley Cup, including Jordan Binnington, Jake Allen, Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas.

Prior to joining the Blues, Armstrong spent six seasons as a coach in the American Hockey League (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He began as an assistant coach with the AHL's Providence Bruins in 1998, helping lead the Bruins to the 1999 Calder Cup Championship. Armstrong was named the head coach of Providence prior to the start of the 2000-01 season, a position he held for two seasons (2000-02). In his first season (2000-01), he led the Bruins to the best start in team history (16-4-1-2) and was named head coach of the Planet USA All-Star Team. Following his stint in Providence, Armstrong spent two seasons (2002-04) as the head coach of the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.

A native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Armstrong played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and won the Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals in 1990. Drafted in the third round (46th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, Armstrong played nine seasons in the AHL and the International Hockey League (IHL), appearing in 543 games and collecting 74 points (10 goals, 64 assists) and 1,443 penalty minutes.