The Coyotes have failed due to never actually allowing a full rebuild to be seen to completion. Impatience mixed with not drafting enough, drafting poorly, and developing badly, is what has doomed the Coyotes to oscillate between terrible and mediocre. That terrible mix if ineptitude and impatience. But now they have a plan...
In the last two off-seasons, the Coyotes have hired:
General Manager
Bill Armstrong:
STL Scout - 6yrs
STL Dir. Scouting - 8yrs
STL Asst. General Mgr - 2yrs
Scouting Director
Darryl Plandowski:
BUF Scout - 8yrs
PIT Scout - 2yrs
TBL Head Scout - 11yrs
TBL Dir. Scouting - 2yrs
Associate Scouting Director
Ryan Jankowski:
NYI Scout: 2yrs
NYI Asst. General Mgr: 5yrs
MTL Scout: 3yrs
BUF Dir. Scouting - 3yrs
Director of Scouting
Alan Hepple:
NSH Scout: 5yrs
COL Scout: 7yrs
COL Asst. Dir. Scouting: 6yrs
COL Dir. Scouting 6yrs
Head Coach
Andre Tourigny:
QMJHL GM/Head Coach: 11yrs
COL Asst. Coach: 2yrs
OTT (NHL) Asst. Coach: 1yr
OHL VP Hockey Ops/Head Coach: 4yrs
Team Canada U18 Asst. Coach: 1yr
Team Canada U18 Head Coach: 1yr
Team Canada U20 Asst. Coach: 4yrs
Team Canada U20 Head Coach: 1yr
Team Canada WC Asst Coach: 1yr
QMJHL COY: 1yr
OHL COY: 2yrs
CHL COY: 1yr
Assistant GM
John Ferguson:
OTT Scout: 3yrs
STL Asst.GM/Dir.Ops: 7yrs
TOR General Manager 5yrs
SJS Dir. Scouting: 6yrs
BOS Dir. Player Pers./AHL GM: 7yrs
Development Staff
Scott Pellerin:
TOR Dir. Player Dev.: 7yrs
Development Staff
David Oliver:
AHL General Manager: 2yrs
COL (NHL) Dir. Player Dev./AHL GM: 1yr
COL (NHL) Dir. Player Dev./AHL Dir.Ops: 1yr
AHL Asst.Coach/Dir.Ops: 2yrs
AHL Dir. Hockey Ops: 1yr
COL (NHL) Dir. Player Dev.: 4yrs
NYR Asst. Coach: 3yrs
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In the last two off-seasons the Coyotes have acquired:
2021 - 1st VAN (9th overall)
2021 - 2nd CBJ (37th overall)
2021 - 2nd COL (60th overall)
2022 - 1st MTL
2022 - 1st COL
2022 - 2nd SJS
2022 - 2nd PHI
2022 - 2nd VAN
2022 - 2nd NYI
2024 - 2nd MTL
2024 - 2nd FLA
Conor Timmins (22)
Josef Korenar (23)
Dylan Guenther (18)
Josh Doan (19)
Ilya Fedotov (18)
JJ Moser (21)
Cole Hults (23)
Vladislav Kolyachonok (20)
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They hired a bunch of really highly regarded young talent identifiers, and a bunch of really highly regarded young talent developers, and then they went out and acquired an absolutely unprecedented haul of young assets under 25 years of age. So now all of those newly hired, highly regarded young talent identifiers can locate the best young talent and all of those newly hired, highly regarded young talent developers can make sure they are brought along correctly, and progress according to plan.
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Phase One - Build the Staff:
General Manager - Bill Armstrong
Scouting Director - Darryl Plandowski
Associate Scouting Director - Ryan Jankowski
Director of Scouting - Alan Hepple
Head Coach - Andre Tourigny
Assistant GM - John Ferguson
Development Staff - Scott Pellerin
Development Staff - David Oliver
^ all positions were filled within the last two off-seasons. None of the old regime remains.
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Phase Two - Build the Available Pool:
Next season...
1. Guenther (Glendale probably)
2. Hayton (Glendale)
3. Soderstrom (Glendale)
4. Timmins (Glendale)
5. Maccelli (Glendale/Tucson)
6. Jenik (Glendale/Tucson)
7. Prosvetov (Glendale/Tucson)
8. Doan (Tempe)
9. Moser (Glendale/Tucson)
10. McCartney (Glendale/Tucson)
11. Fedotov (RUSSIA)
12. Capobianco (Glendale)
13. Kolyachonok (Tucson)
13. Faranacci (Tucson probably)
14. Emberson (Tucson)
15. Kirk (Tucson)
16. Landry (Tucson probably)
^ all but Fedotov will most likely be playing in the state of Arizona next season.
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Phase Three - Build the Long-Term Pipeline:
1. '22 Rd 1. (ARI) 1st-3rd : ??? (Possibly Shane Wright - Glendale)
2. '22 Rd 1. (COL) 26th: ???
3. '22 Rd 1. (CAR) 32nd: ???
4. '22 RD 2. (ARI) 33rd: ???
5. '22 Rd 2. (NYI) 39th: ???
6. '22 Rd 2. (VAN) 41st: ???
7. '22 Rd 2. (PHI) 42nd: ???
8. '22 RD 2. (SJS) 43rd: ???
9. '22 RD 3. (ARI) 65th: ???
^ add in returns on Kessel, Gostisbehere, and Boyd at this TDL (Likely
multiple 2023 2nds and 3rds) - PLUS whatever they get for Chychrun, reportedly two blue chip young players/prospects and a 1st.
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It's easy for dopes who don't pay attention to say "yeah, yeah, we've seen it all before" but we really haven't. Not if you actually look. If you have a brain and you pay attention you can spot the difference. This is nothing like anything we've seen before. The Coyotes have absolutely never restructured an entire front-office, hockey ops, and coaching staffs to SPECIFICALLY accommodate an absolutely massive rebuild, based entirely on a proven track-record of success in young talent identification and development. And while the Coyotes have traded off a bunch of old players before, they've never torn it all the way down to 24 and under, and no team has ever accumulated that massive of a haul of under 24 assets in a single year.
Anyone who thinks all of this isn't wildly unprecedented isn't paying attention. Nobody ever does this. Nobody acquires 3 1sts, 8 2nds, a handful of good prospects under 25 in a single year. Nobody replaces their GM, AGM, Coaching Staff, Scouting Staff, and Development staff in a single year, while simultaneously tearing the entire roster down to the bare studs.
They did this in 12 months time. This has been tremendously expedited and laser focused. Absolutely cut-throat and purpose-driven.