Bill Armstrong was hired as general manager of the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
He replaces Steve Sullivan, who was given the job after GM John Chayka quit July 26. Sullivan was assistant GM under Chayka for three seasons.
"I am extremely grateful to [Coyotes owner Alex] Meruelo, (strategic adviser, business and hockey operations) Alex Meruelo Jr., and (president) Xavier Gutierrez for this opportunity," Armstrong said. "We have great ownership that is committed to winning, a very good core group of young, talented players, and a passionate fan base. I'm excited about our future and the opportunity to build this team into a perennial playoff contender."
Armstrong started with the St. Louis Blues as an amateur scout in 2004, and in 2010 was promoted to director of amateur scouting. He was named assistant GM in 2018.
"We are thrilled to name Bill as our new GM," Meruelo said. "Bill is smart, honest and hardworking, and he knows how to build a winning team. He brings the right mix of hockey knowledge, business acumen and leadership qualities that we need in order to achieve our goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to Arizona."
Among the players drafted by the Blues during Armstrong's time as director of amateur scouting were forwards Jaden Schwartz (first round, 2010), Vladimir Tarasenko (first round, 2010), Sammy Blais (sixth round, 2014) and Robert Thomas (first round, 2017); goalie Jordan Binnington (third round, 2011); and defensemen Colton Parayko (third round, 2012) and Vince Dunn (second round, 2015). Each won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis last season.
"We were extremely impressed with his experience, vast hockey knowledge, great ability to assess talent, and his tremendous draft record," Gutierrez said. "Bill is a proven winner who has a strong work ethic and is a good communicator. He is a man of integrity, and we are confident that he's the right person to build a winning culture here and lead our hockey operations department into the future."
The Blues and Coyotes have agreed that Armstrong will not participate in the 2020 NHL Draft, to be held virtually Oct. 6-7. The Coyotes will not pick until the fourth round after they forfeited their second-round pick in 2020 and first-round pick in 2021 for violating the NHL combine testing policy this season. Arizona traded its 2020 first-round pick to the New Jersey Devils for forward Taylor Hall on Dec. 16, and traded its third-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for forward Carl Soderberg on June 25, 2019.
"All the work he's done is basically information for the St. Louis Blues, so he won't be able to assist in any draft selections for Arizona for this year, and I'm very comfortable that Arizona was understanding the importance of the draft and understanding why we couldn't allow Bill to participate," said Blues GM Doug Armstrong, who is not related to Bill. "He will have the ability to make trades and do other general manager duties, but he won't have access to when they call the name. It'll be on the list they prepared before Bill got there."
Bill Armstrong was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round (No. 46) of the 1990 NHL Draft but never played in the NHL. He played nine seasons in the American Hockey League and International Hockey League, retiring in 1999.
The Coyotes (33-29-8) had a .529 points percentage when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. They were the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference for the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers and defeated the No. 6 seed Nashville Predators in four games. Arizona lost in the Western Conference First Round to the Colorado Avalanche in five games.
Arizona had not qualified for the postseason since reaching the conference final in 2012.
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