NHL
Barry Trotz New Head Coach of the Islanders After Leaving Washington
If there was one coach in this past playoffs who showed his skill and leadership, it was Barry Trotz.
Trotz has a way of connecting to his players, being actively involved and organized at breaking down every play and strategy. He rallied the Washington Capitals to overcome their rivals in the Pittsburgh finally. The Penguins had blocked them three years in a row prior. The Caps then motored on to win the franchises first Stanley Cup in their 44 years of existence.
Everyone had seen Barry Trotz’s Value. Everyone except for the Management of the Washington Capitals. Trotz was given a 1.4 Million dollar a year contract in 2014 when he first signed on as a coach. Now that the Capitals have won the Stanley Cup, his Value has gone up. The Washington Management still wanted to be stingy and not pay Trotz his worth.
When we compare other coaches Salaries: Mike Babcock record-setting $50M for eight years, Claude Julien’s $5M a year and Alian Vigneault’s $4M million with the Rangers, he was paid peanuts. These coaches are making more money coaching teams that were not as successful this year compared to a coach who won a Stanley Cup and has 762 wins. It’s a bummer.
So Barry did the most logical thing, he stepped down as the coach knowing that other teams would.
The New York Islanders
The New York Islanders, unlike the Washington Capitals, are not cheap.
The Islanders seem to be the polar opposite given the history they have of signing ridiculous contracts in the past. Rick Dipietro’s 15-year 60 Million contracts back in 2006 and former Ottawa Senator Alexi Yashin’s 10-year 87 Million dollar contract proves this. Both players never lived up to expectations and were bought out before completion. It hasn’t yet been confirmed what Barry Trotz will be paid. I am willing to bet that it will be more than 1.5 million a year.
The New York Islanders have talent in John Tavares, Cal Clutterbuck and Calder Award-winning rookie of the year Mathew Barzal to name a few. They can become a force in the NHL and the Playoffs but, have lacked the leadership and coaching. The Isles have only made playoffs twice in the past ten years.
This will all change with Lamoriello and Trotz behind the bench. In 2018-2019 we can look forward to the New York Islanders becoming a beast in the east.
This article was originally written by former TSJ101SPORTS NHL writer Bobby Busch. Due to systems modalities, the article has been assigned to the author tag designation “Former Writers”.
