Coyotes, GM Armstrong speaking with coaching candidates, will narrow list later in June
The Coyotes and General Manager Bill Armstrong aren't rushing to name a new head coach, but they are working on it.
A list of 10 candidates is assembled, and the hope for Armstrong is to narrow it to five by mid-June.
Formal interviews have yet to take place, but Armstrong said there have been "meet and greets" to get to know candidates. He's been through a coaching search before in his career, and said his own experience as a head coach in the AHL and ECHL has helped him identify some of the things that are important to the Coyotes organization in terms of what it looks for in a coach.
The list of 10 candidates hasn't been made public, but Armstrong said the team is "looking for specifics," so some of the names that have been floated as candidates are not up for the job.
"I think it really depends on what you're looking for," Armstrong said. "That was one of the purposes for us, was just to go through and get an evaluation done and figure out exactly what we need. Just because you're available, doesn't mean you fit what we need. It's a process that you have to go through."
If a history with Armstrong is a factor in the decision, and Armstrong indicated that it does matter, then there are a number of candidates who have that connection that the Coyotes might be considering to replace Rick Tocchet, with whom they parted ways on May 9. In no order or ranking of likelihood to get the job, here are five:
Lane Lambert, Islanders associate coach
Lambert has been considered for other NHL head coaching jobs in the past, and is reportedly a candidate for the Buffalo Sabres' job. He played with Armstrong for the AHL Cleveland Lumberjacks in the 1996-1997 season. The Coyotes would have to wait until the Islanders' playoff run ends before interviewing Lambert.
Scott Gordon, former AHL coach (Lehigh Valley)
Gordon and the Philadelphia Flyers organization parted ways last month. He has been an interim head coach in the NHL, won hundreds of games in the AHL and was on Armstrong's staff at AHL Providence when Armstrong was head coach there.
Brad Lauer, WHL coach (Edmonton Oil Kings)
Lauer, like Lambert, was a former teammate of Armstrong's in Cleveland. He has NHL and AHL experience as an assistant coach and played 323 career NHL games.
Mike Van Ryn, Blues assistant coach
Van Ryn makes sense on a couple of levels. The 42-year-old was on the Blues staff that won the Stanley Cup in 2019, with Armstrong in the team's front office. Also, he has been both a player development coach and head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners at the same time as when some of the current Coyotes were playing there, from 2016 to 2018.
Rocky Thompson, Sharks associate coach
Thompson has worked his way up the ranks as a coach, from the Western Hockey League to the Ontario Hockey League to the AHL to the Sharks. The 43-year-old played for 14 years, mainly in the minors but briefly in the NHL. He was a player for the Blues' former AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, when Armstrong was in the Blues' scouting department from 2005-07.
"If you've had great experience with someone before, that helps. Knowing how they reacted when they were in those situations, 'this is what we did,'" Armstrong said. "For sure I think that factors in. But you're also open to new (people), too, and to open your mindset to take on some new coaches that people have brought up and that you might not have had experience. You have to approach that interview with the same openness and willingness to listen and take in their information."
The Coyotes also intend to hire an assistant general manager and have a vacancy for general manager at Tucson. Neither position was filled after Steve Sullivan was let go in February.
Ice chips
—Armstrong said he's been watching the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, currently being played in Latvia, with all four Coyotes players in the tournament moving on to the playoff round. "It's crunch time for those guys," he said of USA forward Conor Garland and Canada goalies Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill and forward Michael Bunting. "Now it's time to focus in on it. It's great experience to be under pressure with our group. We have not had a lot of opportunity to be under the type of pressure that you face in playoffs," Armstrong said. "For our guys over there, it's really good. Now it's a step up in play and help lead your country and see if you can get a chance to win a championship."
—Regarding Coyotes prospect Liam Kirk, the 21-year-old former seventh-round draft pick who led the preliminary round at the World Championship with seven goals for Great Britain, Armstrong was impressed and said the organization has to take stock in Kirk and further evaluate him. "We're watching him very closely," Armstrong said.
—Ben McCartney, a seventh-round draft pick last year, earned a three-year entry-level contract last month and stood out with his play in the WHL for Brandon this past season and a brief stint with Tucson in May. Armstrong said McCartney, 19, is a "very smart player" who is hungry and "plays the right way." McCartney will get a chance to open next season with the Roadrunners.
Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.