The Arizona Coyotes have signed head coach Andre Tourigny to a contract extension, PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reported Tuesday evening.
Tourigny, 49, has served as head coach of the Coyotes since 2021. His original three-year contract with the team was set to expire at the end of the 2023-24 season.
In 2022-23, Tourigny led the Coyotes to a 28-40-14 record and 70 points, a 13-point increase over the team’s performance in the 2021-22 season. The Coyotes subsequently selected defenseman Dmitri Simashev and forward Daniil But with the No. 6 and 12 overall picks in the 2023 NHL Draft.
According to Morgan, Tourigny had agreed to terms on this new contract with the Coyotes earlier in the summer but had opted not to officially sign until his assistant coaches were also extended. Although the Coyotes only just hired assistant coach Blaine Forsythe earlier this summer, the contracts of assistant coaches John Madden and Mario Duhamel were also set to expire after the 2023-24 season.
Under Tourigny’s leadership, many of the Coyotes’ top players have enjoyed career-best seasons. Clayton Keller improved from 126 points in 208 games in his last three seasons under previous head coach Rick Tocchet to 149 points in 149 games under Tourigny; over the same timeframe, Nick Schmaltz improved from 91 points in 139 games to 117 in 126.
Before joining the Coyotes in 2021, Tourigny had spent three years as the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s, leading the club to back-to-back 50-win seasons. He has also served as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators, as well as the head coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Halifax Mooseheads.
The Coyotes have had an extremely busy offseason. In addition to trading for defenseman Sean Durzi, the Coyotes have signed free agents Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba, Nick Bjugstad, Alex Kerfoot, and Troy Stecher. The club also agreed to terms on an entry-level contract with 2022 No. 3 overall pick Logan Cooley.
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