Here is my thoughts on Barry Trotz resigning: I wanted Trotz fired multiple times during his 4-year tenure, including multiple times this year. It doesn't matter now, because he won the Stanley Cup this year. My main reasons were Cup related though. I wanted the Cup for my team and I did not think he was capable of doing that. His 4 years in DC looked like this: 2015: Blew a 3-1 series lead to the Rangers, eliminated Round 2. 2016: Won the President's Trophy, lost to the Penguins in Round 2. 2017: Won the President's Trophy, lost to the Penguins in Round 2 in embarrassing fashion with a Game 7 Home shutout. 2018: Started Grubauer over Holtby, lost 2 game at home to start playoffs, Holtby and team bailed him out, eventually Won the Cup. What really pissed me off is Trotz saying he felt disrespected by not getting an extension after 2017. If you win the President's Trophy 2 years in a row and are eliminated in Round 2 by your rivals, you deserve to be fired, not extended. You had the best roster in the NHL and did nothing with it when it mattered the most. He coached Nashville for 15 years and never got out of the 2nd Round. He coached an amazing roster in DC and never got out of the 2nd Round until this year. Now he wins the Cup and acts like this? Interesting guy. Now if your goal is not to win the Cup, but to get your franchise back on the right path, I think Barry Trotz is a great hire. He helped the Caps get their defense right, he helped players like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Holtby grow, etc. He is a solid NHL Coach.
The problem with losing Barry is that good NHL HC are hard to find. You need guys that can get the most out of the roster and develope young players. As an Islander fan I would love the Isles to sign someone with his credentials, it’s what they need, I bet you will never see Josh Bailey on the top line again if Trotz signs with Isles. I’m sorry he left really, but I will take him in a heartbeat on the island.
Yeah, agreed. He should be an Islander any minute if they were smart. Like I said, the Ovechkin Era has been Cup or Bust for awhile, which is hard to live up to. Overall Trotz is a good coach. It came down to money and years it looks like. Trotz coached 4 years for the Caps. Like I said, could have been fired multiple times. He earned $1.5 million a year his first 4 years. Seems low, but that is the NHL. Bonuses got him up to $2.5 million this year. So his demand of 5 years, $25 million was ridiculous to me. He won the Cup, so 2 years, $10 million seemed fine. But asking for that contract was basically asking to leave the team I feel. Maybe he knows that deal is out there for him with a team like the Islanders. We will see. Some say he wants to take a year off. I disagree, because he would have just said that instead of negotiating a contract with the Capitals.
No matter how good a coach you are, the odds are you aren't going to win 4 straight series against other playoff teams. Which is why winning in the playoffs has a lot of luck involved, and firing coaches based on playoff losses isn't usually a good idea. Case in point: after you repeatedly called for Trotz to get fired, he just won the Cup.
So in the last 3 yrs, he won 2 Presidents trophies and 1 Stanley Cup. But your STILL not sold on him as an effective coach some fans are hard to please. Trotz only real issue has been a stacked Patrick Division, combined with the playoff format changes. But he managed to overcome that also.
Yep. You never know how things are going to go. Teams pull the trigger too fast on a Coach and don't get to experience the success the Caps did this year. I am sold on him. He won the Stanley Cup for my team that had never won it. I thought I explained it pretty well. He chose to move on, not me. I was just showing how close things are and how I felt he couldn't get over the hump. You can bring up the President's Trophies now as a success because he won the Cup. Before that, fans laughed at it and considered it a failure. I am the easiest fan to please. Just win. I am loyal. He won the Cup, I assumed he would be re-signed and was happy about it. Now he is not, I am fine to move on without him.
Interesting choice for him. Not sure if the Kings' Cup window is still open, but never know. Getting 3 years was huge for him, no doubt.
Both Quick and Brown, who looked done, had solid years. Offense was their biggest weakness. Against the Knights they lost 1-0, 1-0 and 2-1. For the Kings just a little bit of offense could go a long way for them.
Yeah, I have always been a Quick fan. Nice seeing him get back on track and you are right: he played well vs Vegas. Just no scoring. Kovalchuk is not enough to get them over the hump, but he is a good piece who can help. Does anyone know what happened to him with the Devils? I don't get how he is just free to sign anywhere unless I missed it.
Carlson re-signs with the Capitals!!!! 8 years, $64 Million. Great news. The top defenseman on the market stays in DC and gets to defend the Cup. I was really worried the Caps would lose him, but luckily Colorado took on Orpik's contract, and allowed a deal to happen. He was a piece I did not think the Capitals could replace.
It was shady as it gets. He signed a ridiculous 17 year $100 mil contract and then floated on the ice for 2 years. He just wanted to cash in and the Devils just wanted out of that monstrosity of a contract. They planned it together; he could “retire,” be set up in Russia and the Devils get out of debt so easy.
The Tavares Toronto signing has changed Stanley Cup odds and made them the favorites: 2018-19 STANLEY CUP ODDS Team Odds Toronto Maple Leafs +600 Nashville Predators +900 Tampa Bay Lightning +1000 Winnipeg Jets +1000 Boston Bruins +1200 Pittsburgh Penguins +1200 Vegas Golden Knights +1200 Washington Capitals +1200 Anaheim Ducks +2000 Columbus Blue Jackets +2000 Los Angeles Kings +2000 San Jose Sharks +2000 Chicago Blackhawks +2500 Edmonton Oilers +2500 St. Louis Blues +2500 Dallas Stars +2800 Calgary Flames +3300 Colorado Avalanche +3300 Minnesota Wild +3300 Philadelphia Flyers +3300 New Jersey Devils +4000 Carolina Hurricanes +5000 Florida Panthers +5000 Montreal Canadiens +5000 New York Rangers +5000 Arizona Coyotes +6600 Buffalo Sabres +6600 New York Islanders +7500 Ottawa Senators +7500 Vancouver Canucks +7500 Detroit Red Wings +10000 I like Toronto, but elevating them to a huge favorite seems a little too much to me. They are in the mix, but that much better than the Bolts, Bruins, Pens and Capitals in the East? I don't think so.
Nikita Kucherov has signed an eight-year extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning worth an annual average value of $9.5 million. Wow! Big move for Tampa. He was nearly invisible in the Eastern Conference Finals, but there is no doubt Kucherov is a top notch player.
