Thursday: The team has officially announced Armstrong as the new GM. Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez released a statement on the hire:
We are very excited to welcome Bill to the Coyotes as our new General Manager. We were extremely impressed with his experience, vast hockey knowledge, great ability to assess talent, and his tremendous draft record. Bill is a proven winner who has a strong work ethic and is a good communicator. He is a man of integrity and we are confident that he’s the right person to build a winning culture here and lead our hockey operations department into the future.
Wednesday: The Arizona Coyotes have still been slowly working their way through their offseason work, with the latest move coming yesterday when they signed Adin Hill to a new one-year contract. Still, that work is being done without a full-time GM, as Steve Sullivan fills in while they look for a new front office leader.
Last night, Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reported that the team had made an offer to Bill Armstrong to become their next GM. Armstrong currently serves as AGM with the St. Louis Blues. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (among others) confirmed that Armstrong is the leading candidate and could get the job “over the next day or so.” Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet are both reporting that the deal is done with Armstrong to become the team’s next GM. The expectation is he will be signing a five-year contract with the team, worth more than $1MM per season.
If you were a fan of the Hershey Bears or Providence Bruins in the early nineties, you may remember Armstrong as the massive, old-school defenseman that was more than willing to drop the gloves at a moment’s notice. A third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, the 6’5″ Armstrong would never make the NHL, instead settling for 1,169 penalty minutes in 439 AHL contests. Soon after his retirement from playing in 1998 he joined the P-Bruins as an assistant coach, before taking over the head coaching duties a few years later.
Eventually, Armstrong found his way to the Blues in 2004 as a scout and has been with the organization ever since. In 2018 he became an assistant GM for Doug Armstrong—to which there is no relation—after Martin Brodeur left the organization.
The Coyotes are looking for a new GM after John Chayka’s ugly public divorce from the team earlier this summer. Formerly the youngest GM in the league, Chayka had served in the role since 2016 but terminated his contract with the team in July.
Odds That Chayka is unemployed next season?
He can manage at one of his Wendys.
What is 1 million in terms of GM salaries? Is it high end, low end or middle of the road?
low end, but he’s a new GM. salty ones are 3+
Given the Yotes sad history is this a good hire or a yes man?
They did go to the playoffs this year….not that sad. He has a great resume, lots of scouting experience. Makes you wonder with that scouting experience if the owners want to sell off assets(older 26+) and draft some new blood.
That would be my guess is more young talent.Don’t think Taylor Hall resigns. They have some young talent; but don’t know how to win.Super Goalie .. D at it long in the tooth.Will the owner spend $ in FA? Team to keep an eye on with the cap being what it is.
Nice…the kind of guy pro hockey is now lacking but somehow turned into good coaches
“If you were a fan of the Hershey Bears or Providence Bruins in the early nineties, you may remember Armstrong as the massive, old-school defenseman that was more than willing to drop the gloves at a moment’s notice. A third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, the 6’5″ Armstrong would never make the NHL, instead settling for 1,169 penalty minutes in 439 AHL contests.”