Arizona Coyotes head coach André Tourigny remains confident about his future in the Valley as well as the team's improvement come next season.
At the heart of the Arizona Coyotes rebuild is head coach André Tourigny.
The 49-year-old has been coach of the Coyotes for the past two seasons. While their record may not show it, Arizona has made major strides over the past two years as Tourigny has helped boost the culture.
With one year left on his contract, Tourigny is coming into the season with some uncertainty but has had some initial conversations with general manager Bill Armstrong.
“Bill and I had some preliminary discussions, but obviously there’s a lot to consider in that,” Tourigny said via PHNX’s Craig Morgan. “There’s term and there’s the staff. I’m huge on relationships and I’m huge on my staff. We are talking about that right now.”
Despite not having any security past this upcoming season, Tourigny is not concerned and is confident things will work out for himself no matter what happens.
“No. If I have to coach in the last year of my deal I’m not afraid of not having a job next year. I will have a job,” Tourigny said. “I don’t know in which league but I will have a job next year. From the NHL [in 2016] I went back to juniors and I had the time of my life in Ottawa so it’s not like taking a step back would make me hit my head on the wall.
“At the same time, I’m pretty confident in myself. I think it will work with the Yotes. I like the direction we had and I had a really good talk with Bill. I don’t see why it will not work. I have never had those thoughts. I think it will sort out.”
Tourigny is about to embark on his biggest challenge yet. The Coyotes made moves this offseason to try and compete for a playoff spot next year including trading for defenseman Sean Durzi and signing forwards Jason Zucker, Nick Bjugstad and Alexander Kerfoot. It's on Tourigny to bring all the pieces together and help make Arizona a winning caliber franchise.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, Tourigny feels the Coyotes are headed in the right direction.
“We had a good trade with [Sean] Durzi to improve the team. We brought in good veterans like Boogey [Nick Bjugstad], Stech [Troy Stecher], Zucks [Jason Zucker] and [Alex] Kerfoot,” Tourigny said. “I think the team is heading in the right direction, but the growing pains are not over. We’re not out of the woods. Getting assets is one thing. Now we need to improve our performance, improve our record, and push to play meaningful games…”