Armstrong Solidifies Staff, ‘They Have Helped us Take a Step’

Arizona Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong knows how much work it takes to move up in an organization. After all, he started as an amateur scout with the St. Louis Blues in 2004 before steadily progressing to the team’s Director of Amateur Scouting, and eventually Assistant General Manager, helping the Blues to a Stanley Cup championship in 2018-19.

With that knowledge in hand, Armstrong rewarded members of his staff last week, finalizing extensions for Director of Pro Scouting Alan Hepple, Director of Amateur Scouting Darryl Plandowski, and Associate Director of Amateur Scouting Ryan Jankowski, while also promoting David Ludwig to Assistant General Manager with a contract extension of his own.

The future of the Coyotes’ rebuild has never been stronger.

“If your staff does a good job, reward them,” Armstrong said. “That was my main thought process in trying to create stability with people in the organization that have helped us take a step and will continue to help us take even a further step to becoming a championship organization.”

Collectively, the Coyotes’ rebuild has excelled in a short amount of time. The team has drafted some of the top talent in the world, including Dylan Guenther (9th overall, 2021), Josh Doan (37th overall, 2021), J.J. Moser (60th overall, 2021), Logan Cooley (3rd overall, 2022), Conor Geekie (11th overall, 2022), Maveric Lamoureux (29th overall, 2022), Dmitry Simashev (6th overall, 2023), and Daniil But (12th overall, 2023), among others.

The Coyotes have also hit home runs in the trade, waiver, and free agency markets, acquiring goaltenders Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram; defensemen Sean Durzi, Juuso Välimäki, Matt Dumba, Troy Stecher, and Travis Dermott; and forwards Jack McBain, Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot, and Nick Bjugstad.

Those moves have all come because of the tireless effort from Ludwig, Hepple, Plandowski, Jankowski, and their respective staffs.

“It’s hard work,” Armstrong said. “I went from a part time employee to a full-time scout, to a crossover, to a head scout, to assistant GM. I always felt that if people work hard and do a good job, they deserve to be promoted.”

Hepple joined the Coyotes in 2021 following a 19-year stint with the Colorado Avalanche, is considered to be an excellent talent evaluator, and is highly respected with his approach at building a championship-caliber roster. Plandowski played an integral role in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s recent run of Stanley Cup success, spending 12 years with the organization before joining the Coyotes in 2020.

Jankowski is just as highly regarded, bringing a wealth of experience with him that includes time spent in key roles with Hockey Canada and various NHL teams, including time as an Assistant General Manager with the New York Islanders.

Ludwig previously served as Arizona’s Director of Hockey Operations and Salary Cap Compliance prior to his promotion to Assistant General Manager last week, and previously worked as an NHLPA certified agent with KO Sports.

When he joined the Coyotes in 2020, Ludwig said it was always his goal to be elevated into his current position. Though he enjoyed his time as an agent, he’s always had the goal of pursuing a Stanley Cup, and the opportunity with Arizona gives him exactly that.

He’s spent the last four years building relationships with staff, prospects, agents, and front office members from teams throughout the league, and said he’s excited to continue his pursuit of bringing a championship to The Valley.

“Thanks to Bill and the Meruelo family, because I’m excited to be here for a few more years and take this next step on the journey,” Ludwig said. “There’s only such a high level you can get to on the agent side of things, so to come over here and to have that opportunity where I saw growth potential and to be able to have a meaningful impact on the organization, it was a goal.

“I’m thankful to be here.”

Armstrong said Ludwig’s commitment and work ethic made the decision to promote him an easy one, especially considering the trajectory of his own career as he rose through the NHL front office ranks.

“He’s one that constantly earned it, and constantly jumped up and above and exceeded expectations and when you do that you deserve to be promoted and have a chance to move to the next level,” Armstrong said. “He’s probably one of the most tireless workers behind the scenes, he’s someone that’s a constant team player, and we’re very happy to promote him.”

Ludwig’s promotion, along with the aforementioned contract extensions, have solidified the Coyotes’ hockey operations departments for years to come.

As the Coyotes continue to pursue the team’s first-ever Stanley Cup, fans can rest easy that the road to that ultimate goal is in the best possible hands.

“We want talented office people that provide first and second efforts,” Armstrong said. “That’s what we preach in hockey ops, and we expect it on the ice, too.”