Arizona Coyotes agree to extension with Andre Tourigny

The Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday agreed to a contract extension with head coach Andre Tourigny.

Prior to the official announcement, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro confirmed the news of a year-three deal being reached, which came along with extensions for his assistants on staff.

“He is an excellent coach, leader and communicator who has helped us establish a tremendous culture in our dressing room,” Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong said in a release. “Our players like him, respect him and compete hard for him. We are thrilled to have him signed as our head coach for the next three years.”

PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan first reported the agreed-upon extension.

Tourigny was heading into the final season of a three-year contract after joining the Coyotes as a first-time NHL head coach in 2021. The Coyotes, currently in a rebuilding period, have a record of 53-90-21 with Tourigny.

“I’m very grateful to have the trust of (owner Alex) Meruelo, Bill and (president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez),” Tourigny said in a release. “The structure put in place by our management has energized our team. I’m also very fortunate to have such a quality coaching staff to work with. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with them every day. In addition, our high-performance, development, medical and equipment staff do an excellent job of taking care of our players. That is the best environment that you can dream of having.”

Armstrong, who was hired the summer before Tourigny, said in late July he was hopeful to get an extension done, referring to how Arizona has gone through Phase 1 of its rebuild and is now heading into Phase 2.

“He’s done Phase 1 very well,” Armstrong said to NHL.com. “He has got the players to buy into what he’s doing. He’s got the players to buy into the culture and he’s got the players to buy in to compete every single night here in the desert.”

Arizona continues to amass young talent that will make its way through the pipeline in the coming years, with a few names like Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Conor Geekie on the way soon. After Armstrong traded several key Coyotes players in exchange for draft picks to begin the rebuild, this summer was Arizona’s first offseason under him in being aggressive with adding key contributors.

Veteran forward Nick Bjugstad was retained in free agency, while Jason Zucker and Alexander Kerfoot add more depth to the center group. In addition, the Coyotes traded a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for young defenseman Sean Durzi, who has a chance to be a long-term top-4 defenseman.

Those names will join a group that includes 25-year-old forward Clayton Keller, who had a career-high 86 points, and 22-year-old forward Matias Maccelli coming off a standout rookie season.

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