[Signing] Washington promotes MacLellan and officially hires Barry Trotz

[dammage79]

As per Gary Lawless.

gary lawless ‏@garylawless 39m
Hearing more and more Barry Trotz to Washington is a done deal. #nhl
Expand


I for one will be happy with this hire as it keeps a good coach out of Vancouvers hands.

EDIT: Lebrun is on to this now. I'd be surprised if this fell apart.

Pierre LeBrun ‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun 12m
nothing completed at this point but hearing that talks intensifying between Washington Capitals and Barry Trotz

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 49s
Not sure what's out there or who deserves credit for initial report, but hearing Barry Trotz has informed teams he is no longer...

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 59s
available as a candidate. It is believed he is closing in with Washington.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Trotz over to Washington.

Good pick up.

[Samiz]

Nice because it means Trotz not to Vancouver

[saXon]

Wewt.

Let's hope Vancouver gets stuck with an 'Eakins', except with even worse hair.

[Ashasx]

On the Canucks board, they didn't want Trotz anyway. Seems odd to me.

He's a top 5 coach in the league.

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

On the Canucks board, they didn't want Trotz anyway. Seems odd to me.

He's a top 5 coach in the league.

The Sedins need a defensively lax coach to produce. Look what happened when Torts came into the system

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by jeffman

The Sedins need a defensively lax coach to produce. Look what happened when Torts came into the system

I think Trotz is seen as a defensive-minded coach because he had nothing else to work with in Nashville. The team is all blue line and nothing else. He installed a system to fit the team's strengths.

I think he'll find a system that works in Washington.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Coach before a GM?

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Coach before a GM?

I think Lawless had a tweet saying that Leonosis was comfortable with the current AGM to make the coaching hire. And really, I don't think many will think Trotz is a bad hire for that team.

Pretty easy hire for a monkey to make IMO.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Not sure Trotz would have been a great fit in Vancouver anyway.

He better hope he can somehow get AO to buy into whatever he's selling or it will be a tough gig. Should be interesting to see what he can do with some elite offensive players.

[kyuss275]

If Trotz can't get these guys going, I have to think they would look long and hard on moving OV.

[19Yzerman19]

I just think it's dumb to hire a coach before a GM; it makes the position immediately less attractive ... basically you've gone from "come be our GM and the ship is yours to crew" to "here's the guy you have to work with". It helps that Trotz is respected but a prospective GM would still rather make the call on a head coach himself.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

I just think it's dumb to hire a coach before a GM; it makes the position immediately less attractive ... basically you've gone from "come be our GM and the ship is yours to crew" to "here's the guy you have to work with". It helps that Trotz is respected but a prospective GM would still rather make the call on a head coach himself.

It worked for the Seattle Seahawks, maybe it will become a new trend in the NHL.

Owners could be realizing that changing coaches regularly is not a recipe for long term success. I agree with your point but it could be better to sign a good coach long term and stick with him. If the team fails it is because the GM didn't provide the coach with good enough players and the coach should keep his job while the GM is fired.

Edit: Also a similar situation in Colorado where the coach is also president and boss of the GM.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

I just think it's dumb to hire a coach before a GM; it makes the position immediately less attractive ... basically you've gone from "come be our GM and the ship is yours to crew" to "here's the guy you have to work with". It helps that Trotz is respected but a prospective GM would still rather make the call on a head coach himself.

I think it's way dumber to not sign Trotz because you don't have a GM in place. Trotz is an excellent coach, and one of the best in the league. What happens if you don't hire him and wait until you get a GM? By then, Barry could be gone and the new GM might have wanted Trotz anyways. If Trotz is the right person to coach your team, you hire him now. I don't see how having Barry Trotz as your coach makes the job less attractive.

It's really no different than Brian Burke saying that Bob Hartley is the Flames' coach to Jim Treliving.

[Tailgator]

Any GM that wouldn't want Trotz as a coach is not a GM worth hiring anyway.....

[Erick Estrada]

I think the hire is a no-brainer as he's done very good work with limited talent. I think he would have been a great fit for any of the teams looking for a head coach because he's a players coach and can adapt to the talent he has to work with. Very happy he won't be going to Vancouver.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Hopefully he can fix the overall defense as well as Ovi's.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by jeffman

The Sedins need a defensively lax coach to produce. Look what happened when Torts came into the system

I disagree. The Sedins' problems have less to do with coaching and more to do with diminishing in their effectiveness with age. They will both be 34-years-old to start the season, and both have been steadily falling away from the point/game mark since 2010–11.

This is very good news, since Trotz is one of the best coaches in the NHL.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Interested to see what he can do with that group, it has the potential to allow him to show a range in his coaching style as the roster has a completely different make up than NSH.

I can see two things happening here:

1. Trotz will eat that conference alive. There is almost no way Washington doesn't immediately improve under his coaching.

2. With success, I can see Trotz taking on a more prominent role on team Canada as Babcock rides into the sunset and he proves himself capable with a talent heavy roster.

I hope this starts a coaching war in the east and makes that conference less of a joke.

[Vulcan]

We'll see how Trotz handles this team. He isn't going to change Ovechkin into a grinder, he'll be better off surrounding him with defensively responsible players.