Would you fire Armstrong

[Mangosteen]

Bill has been the GM of Arizona and Utah for 5 years. Went scorched earth and have had 5 brutal years of hockey. In this time he has amassed a huge amount of picks and cap space but has done little with it. The trade for Serg was incredible but mu gut tells me that was Smith. Hockey News ranked our prospect pool as 5th best. He had access to 47 picks in that time. He has some future stars playing and some in the pipeline but we are also burning prime years of Keller, Serg, Smaltzy, Veggie. Would you give him more time or replace him with a more winning experienced GM now?

 

[The Nuge]

They need one or two top 6 forwards, and for their defense to be healthy and they’re looking pretty solid. If they used some of their like 20 million in cap to land a big forward this summer, they aren’t in bad shape

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

No I would not fire him. Dude came into a bad situation and it’s finally coming together.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

You should add their First Initial. There are two Armstrongs. lol

 

[piqued]

None of those players you listed matter, at all. Utah's only objective is to continue to surround the Cooley/Guenther cohort with talent, that is what will drive the team.

 

[NVious]

Armstrong?

More like armweak!!!

(EPIC OWNAGE xD)

 

[PaulD]

No I would not fire him. Dude came into a bad situation and it’s finally coming together.

True. Look at Shanahan. He came into a primo situation flushed a the season innthe toilet to tank for Matthews. In 10 years the Shanaplan has won one more play off round than Armstrong has in 5.
Ide say Armstrong has all kinds of rope left before firing him is even a notion.

 

[AKL]

I like what he's been doing. Scorched earth takes a while. Gotta be patient and let Cooley/Guenther keep developing, and wait for their other big prospects to join. They're on the right track.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Team was injury riddled for a lot of this season. They have a young team that will be scary good sooner rather then later. I would give him another year at least. They are finally stable in location and ownership.

 

[zegrassyknoll]

As a fellow small-market team, I think rebuilding these teams is significantly harder than other places.

Signing key UFAs can speed things up and those UFAs are less likely to sign here. It takes more time and luck to get it right.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

No I would not fire him. Dude came into a bad situation and it’s finally coming together.

Zackly! He’s basically just getting started and all of that draft capital-turned prospects will start paying off in the next couple years.

Way too soon to fire BA.

 

[Summer Rose]

No, but Andre Tourigny’s seat should at least warm starting out next season. However, both he and Bill Armstrong have earned the right to continue what they already have going. Only way I’d want to fire either of them before next season is if Armstrong were to pull something like what John Chayka did or if Tourigny said something incredibly stupid to the media like John Tortorella did last week.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

None of those players you listed matter, at all. Utah's only objective is to continue to surround the Cooley/Guenther cohort with talent, that is what will drive the team.

Clayton Keller doesn't matter at all?

 

[Jormungandr]

This thread is ridiculous. The first wave of notable prospects that were accumulated during the rebuild are in their sophomore years. The problem with going scorched earth rebuild is it takes years. Much more than 5 years. These players need to mature before they become impact NHL players. Only time can do that.

 

[Dr Robot]

If he was gifted all the resources in the world and the team wasted away then this might be a question. He was given nothing with no financial room to move and he managed to put together what appears to be a fairly competent rebuild. He wasnt gifted a McDavid either, he was aggressive in alot of the moves he made both aquiring draft picks and trading them. If this rebuild has legs then he might be considered in the top half of GMs soon.

 

[SjMilhouse]

Watching the team for the first time this year, I think he's done a good job building a solid roster. I want to give him more time simply because once the D was healthy they were a much much better team. I'd fire AT before I'd fire BA

 

[wgknestrick]

Howdy to the 16 Utah hockey club fans! It would be nice for someone, anyone? to care about this team. Maybe if they could be more than just a "club" and function with a real NHL "team's" budget?

I want them to be successful, but its going to take some patience to rebuild all the damage done from years of irrelevance in this org. I'm not sure if they have anyone with a strong enough winning history to lead them yet. It seems like every bright prospect they've had during the ARI years had to eventually leave to shine.

 

[SjMilhouse]

Howdy to the 16 Utah hockey club fans! It would be nice for someone, anyone? to care about this team. Maybe if they could be more than just a "club" and function with a real NHL "team's" budget?

I want them to be successful, but its going to take some patience to rebuild all the damage done from years of irrelevance in this org. I'm not sure if they have anyone with a strong enough winning history to lead them yet. It seems like every bright prospect they've had during the ARI years had to eventually leave to shine.

Having been to all but I think 4 games this year, I promise you they have a very strong fan base in Utah maybe just not on here. People repping gear all over town and asking questions when you wear gear. They also have a real NHL budget, just havent spent it all yet but Smith is going to spend to be competitive.

Another reason to give BA a pass is he didn't have much time this offseason to do anything with how quickly the move happened. I expect him to be busy with an open checkbook this offseason to fill out the gaps in the roster. Cooley/Keller/Guenther are young and hungry and have led the team well alongside some solid vets to help build a good culture.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Fire him? I'd give him a raise. He's doing a very good job. Utah is setting itself up to be relevant. They already were a decent team this season. The future is bright for that organization.

 

[SEALBound]

That entire organization has desperately needed a 1st overall pick since the beginning. Granted, they've got some high picks that have produced decent players but no core franchise guys. Best bets would have been Matthews or Bedard but the hockey gods were a little too cruel to the desert dogs.

With the progress they've made, it doesn't look like one is coming either unless they get an unlikely lottery win.

So no, I wouldn't fire him. I think he made a lot of really solid moves recently. Injuries hampered them this year quite a bit.

 

[qcal1427]

The process, especially on the roster-building side, was very good this year even if the results have lagged behind.

That being said, it does feel like next year is the real prove-it point for both Armstrong and Tourigny.

 

[Stickpucker]

No, he did pretty well considering the terrible ownership and rocky history of the team.

I'd give him two more seasons with supportive ownership.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I would at least give Armstrong a shot in Utah, since the primary purpose of the Arizona Coyotes was to ice a roster that would be below the salary floor without LTIR contracts and he had to accrue assets within that framework

 

[Hale The Villain]

Bill Armstrong is an incredible GM.

Took over a team devoid of talent with no picks/prospects in the pipeline and 5 years later Utah is competing for a playoff spot and has one of the best futures in the league.

Not taking into account the position of the team when he took over and judging him on the team's performance while he rebuilt the franchise is incredibly stupid.

Also what makes you think he wasn't responsible for the Sergachev trade?

 

[JeffreyLFC]

He is doing a better job IMO than Ron Francis in Seattle.
He was hired in a very bad situation with nobody wanting to play for Arizona not even players that were not drafted yet.