Coyotes, Tippett agree to part ways citing 'philosophical differences'

The Arizona Coyotes and head coach Dave Tippett have mutually agreed to part ways, the team announced Thursday.

"On behalf of the entire Coyotes organization, I would like to sincerely thank Tip for all of his hard work and the many contributions he made to our organization," team owner Andrew Barroway said. "Tip is a man of high character and we are very grateful for his leadership during his tenure as our head coach. Ultimately, we have some philosophical differences on how to build our team. Therefore we mutually agreed that it is in everyone's best interest to have a coaching change in order to move our franchise forward."

Barroway bought out the Coyotes' minority owners to become the sole owner of the club earlier in June.

Tippett, 55, took over the Coyotes' bench in 2009-10, and since led Arizona to a 282-257-83 overall record and three playoff berths in eight seasons.

Although Tippett had four years remaining on his deal as head coach and vice president of hockey operations, Craig Morgan of AZ Sports reports the breakup was a structured buyout.

The Coyotes placed 28th overall in 2016-17, but the timing of the split is strange, to say the least, with the entry draft scheduled for Friday - in which Arizona will select seventh overall - and free agency around the corner.