Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet believes his coaching staff is "pretty well-set," which does not bode well for assistant coach Scott Allen, whose contract expired June 30.

Allen, 51, was in charge of the Coyotes' defense and penalty-kill units which performed well above expectations last season. The Coyotes were tied for the best penalty kill in the NHL (85 percent) and finished sixth in total goals against.

Allen became expendable after the hiring of Phil Housley to essentially the same position Wednesday.

Housley was fired as the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres last season and before that was a defensive coach with the Nashville Predators.

Allen coached in the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers organizations before joining the Coyotes prior to the 2017-18 season.

The Coyotes currently have four assistant coaches under contract: Housley, John McLean (forwards/power play), Corey Schwab (goaltending) and Steve Peters (video).

Tocchet said that's the group he anticipates going to battle with for the 2019-20 season.

"I don't like big staffs," Tocchet said, "and right now with Phil Housley, John McLean, Corey Schwab and Steve Peters we're pretty much set."

Tocchet said he valued Housley's experience coaching defense in Nashville, where he worked with proficient defensemen such as Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis and others.

Ultimately, it led to the reality of parting ways with Allen.

"That's the business we live in," Tocchet said. "I think Scottie Allen is a great guy, a terrific guy and I think he did a hell of a job for me. It's no different than you're just trying to better your team. It's got nothing to do with anything other than the fact that Phil is available and I thought that he would definitely help our defense. ... I think it's something he can do."

Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached at rmorin@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @ramorin_azc. Subscribe to azcentral today.

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