The Arizona Coyotes have extended the contract of head coach André Tourigny for three years, running through the 2026-27 season.
He is in the final year of his three-year contract that he signed with them on July 1st, 2021. As first reported by Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, the holdup was that he wanted to get extensions in place for his coaching staff as well as himself, something that they eventually did as they got assistants John Madden, Mario Duhamel, and goaltending coach Corey Schwab to extensions.
He will be entering his third year as their bench boss. While his 53-90-21 record isn’t attractive at first sight, he has been coaching a roster that has been comprised mostly of castoffs and prospects.
The Coyotes made the Right Decision with Their Head Coach
Tourigny has been keeping the Coyotes competitive most nights and created a positive team culture. It should make the staff more comfortable for them as they now have expectations to win some games after being one of the busier teams in the offseason. Last year’s roster was meant to be one of the worst, yet the team actually improved by 13 points, going from 57 to 70.
To note, this was with a defensive core that witnessed the breakout of Jakob Chychrun and the bounce-back of Shayne Gostisbehere, though the rest of the core was filled out with unproven talent, prospects, castoffs, or reclamation projects. Plus, the goaltending tandem of Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram did not have 60 games of experience combined heading into last season.
This can do with the players buying into his coaching tactics. Clayton Keller had his best season to date, and all of Lawson Crouse, Matias Maccelli, and Barrett Hayton had breakout years, which can reason to why a team that was expected to win 15 games turned out to win 28.
They’re not going to be a Stanley Cup contender anytime soon. But this is a team that puts up respectable numbers on the ice. The question is when they will start winning, as teams that are rebuilding usually have a coach that sticks with them during the struggling years before signing a veteran that can get their playoff push going. But having stability on the bench will only help their young players moving forward.
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