Alex Kerfoot has embraced Mr. Versatility role for Coyotes this season

Alex Kerfoot had no goals and three assists in his first 13 games with the Coyotes. He refuses to chalk up his early-season drought to PTSD (Post-Toronto Stress Disorder).

“Any time you come into a new team or new environment, you’re trying to find your way, get comfortable with the guys, get comfortable with the system, the coaches, all that stuff,” Kerfoot said. “Sometimes it clicks and happens a little faster. Other times it takes more time.

“You want it to become second nature so you can just react to plays. Whenever you’re thinking too much, it slows you down a little bit so there was a little bit of that, and a little bit of just realizing that I needed to go play and not worry about much else.”

There are fewer outside distractions for Kerfoot in Arizona than there were in Toronto. He was a favorite target of the Maple Leafs faithful, particularly toward the end of his four-year tenure in Toronto when his production dipped from 51 points in 2021-22 to 32 points in 2022-23.

While coach Sheldon Keefe loved Kerfoot’s versatility, fans didn’t feel that versatility helped the team specialize at positions where it was deficient. When the Maple Leafs added Jared McCann days before the expansion draft, essentially to protect Kerfoot (Seattle selected McCann), his haters viewed the move as a missed opportunity.

Kerfoot, 29, doesn’t deny that the vitriol impacted his confidence, but it’s something from which he learned.

“It does affect you to an extent and it probably affects everything,” he said. “And when you hear stuff, it affects the team on the ice, not just you personally. You do your best to tune everything out, but there’s people in the rink there every day, they’re saying stuff, the coaches are talking about things.”

There were also unfavorable media accounts. 

“There’s lots of really good people in the media who know a lot about hockey and care a lot,” Kerfoot said. “And then there probably are some who aren’t as knowledgeable. At the end of the day, those people aren’t in the room with you. They don’t have the full story. They’re not on the ice, they don’t know your systems, they don’t know your expectations, your teammates’ expectations, your linemates’ expectations.

“But that’s the thing about media. They can say whatever they want and that carries weight in different markets. If you want to pay attention to everything that’s being said, then it’s gonna be a really, really long season. It’s obviously harder in Toronto, but the better you are at just tuning that out and not letting it affect you, the better you’ll be.”

That is the lesson that Kerfoot took with him to Arizona when he signed a two-year, $7 million contract this summer.

“What I’ve learned is that you can use that criticism to help you,” he said. “I think it helps hold you accountable to an extent.

“Not to say that in other markets you aren’t accountable, but there is a little bit more of that in Toronto. I learned that as I had more time there. But what I also understood coming out of it is that wherever noise is coming from, it really doesn’t matter. Whether people are writing good stuff or bad stuff about you, you have to be dialed in at all times.” 

---

After a short adjustment period with the Coyotes, that is exactly what Kerfoot has done. In his past 27 games, he has five goals and 24 points.

More to the point, he has reprised the Mr. Versatility role that made him such a coach favorite. He has played on the fourth line. He has played on the first line. He has played on the wing. He has played center — also up and down the lineup. He has played on the power play, and he has been a critical penalty killer, logging more average ice time per game (2:40) on that unit than any Coyote, including defensemen.

When coach André Tourigny was asked which areas of impact stand out most from Kerfoot’s play, he offered a quick answer.

“I think in all the defensive aspects of the game, he’s a genius out there,” Tourigny said. “He reads the play. He has a feel, he has an urgency, he has pride to do all of that, defensively. I mean, he’s doing a lot of good stuff offensively and he has skill and can make plays, but when you ask me what’s really special, that’s his plays and reads defensively.”

Kerfoot’s reliability away from the puck has led the coaches to send him over the boards with more and more regularity — particularly with Barrett Hayton out of the lineup and Jack McBain and Jason Zucker missing time with injuries and a suspension, respectively. That’s something that Tourigny knows he has to change, even if Kerfoot isn’t complaining.

“He’s the forward since December who has the most minutes per game with us,” Tourigny said. “He’s always around 20 minutes. It’s a lot of minutes, especially when you consider the minutes.

---

“You play them against the best on the other side — the biggest, the best, the best pairing, and the PK. Those are heavy minutes,” Tourigny continued. “They’re not O-zone faceoff minutes. They are dig-in, work-hard, battle, urgent, shut down-the best-players-on-the-other-side minutes. I think the fact that we have four lines will hopefully help to drop [those minutes] a little bit.”

Kerfoot’s willingness to man whatever role he is handed was one of the reasons GM Bill Armstrong suggested that he would mesh well with Tourigny, but that was Kerfoot’s reputation well before he turned pro.

“He’s willing to do whatever the team needs,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato, who had Kerfoot for four seasons during which the Crimson won two ECAC titles, made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced to the Frozen Four in Kerfoot’s senior season.

“He can play center, he can play wing, he can kill penalties, he can play on the power play but I think when you really see how valuable he is is when you learn how his teammates look at him. They respect him because he’s just a world class human being and he’s a winner.”

Donato was in t0wn with Harvard to compete in Arizona State’s Desert Hockey Classic last weekend, but he stayed in town to catch his old captain play. He attended Thursday’s Coyotes game against the Flames.

“I think he’s a great fit here for a team that’s up and coming and trying to build a winning culture,” Donato said. “I’m sure he’ll score some big goals for them if they stay in this playoff race.”

---

Like many free agents last summer, Kerfoot didn’t have the same opportunities that past classes did. The flat cap — an enduring residual of the Covid years — meant that many teams were tight on finances.

While the Coyotes were signing other free agents (Zucker, Matt Dumba and Troy Stecher) to one-year deals, Kerfoot wanted a three-year deal. The two sides settled on two years.

“He ended up having three or four teams come talk to us and he had to analyze each opportunity,” Kerfoot’s agent, JP Barry said. “He asked me lots of questions, but he 100 percent made the decision himself.

“When I presented the options and the different teams that were out there, Arizona was his choice. He just felt that the team was going to be better and that he could help them be better. He had definitely done his research on the team.”

Kerfoot is on pace for 49 points this season, which would be two off his career high. While the Dumba and Zucker signings were more heralded this summer, it’s fair to say that Kerfoot is running neck and neck with Nick Bjugstad as the best free-agent signing of the offseason at the season’s midpoint.

Kerfoot is quick to dismiss such discussion, noting the benefits of ice time and deployment that he has enjoyed.

“Definitely a big part of it is situations and who you’re playing with,” he said. “I played on a line with Kells [Clayton Keller] and Schmaltzy [Nick Schmaltz] for a good chunk of that time. I was playing with Carcs [Michael Carcone] for a while and he was playing really good hockey; those guys are gonna produce offense. 

“I’ve obviously been on the power play, too, so offensive situations are probably the number one contributor to my production and then, when you get put in those situations, you start to feel a little more confidence. That’s huge. If you start feeling like you can make plays then you’re gonna make plays.”

Even if that production falls off, Kerfoot is confident that he can contribute in others ways that those in the room and behind the bench will appreciate.

“The one thing you have to be cognizant of if you’re playing in an offensive situation and you’re playing with more offensive players is you don’t want the details of your game to dip or slip where you think that you need to force a couple more plays because of the players you’re playing with,” he said.  “I want the foundation of my game to be using my speed to get in on the forecheck, keep those details sound, and just be responsible defensively.”

Although it does not fully protect him from movement, Kerfoot admits that it’s a comfort to know there is another year left on his contract. After his Toronto experience, and despite all that he heard about Arizona from the outside, he feels at home in the desert.

“I guess it’s a little bit unfair for me to say what the outside perception is because people could have different opinions, but I think that the noise of the arena situation has kind of impacted the organization negatively and I think that the product on the ice has been taking a hit because of that,” he said. “Right before I got here, that’s what I felt, but since I got here and got to know the organization and the coaches and the guys on the team and see how tight this group is, it’s a lot different than what I think people on the outside see.

“When I researched it, I knew this was a team on the rise and it felt like we could be a team that could be pushing to be in the playoffs. I had a conversation with Bill in the summer and it just felt like we were on the same page. I didn’t want it to be a one-year thing where I come and sign and then they’re looking to trade me at the deadline. I wanted to have a little bit more security where they would hopefully want to keep me. In order for that to happen, I know that I have to uphold my end of the bargain. I have to come in here and be able to make an impact.”

Top photo of Alex Kerfoot via Getty Images

Follow Craig Morgan on X