National Post (National Edition)
Winning exacts price
The last time Barry Trotz was a free agent, he reportedly waited 30 minutes before the Washington Capitals called and offered him a job.
This time, he won’t have to wait nearly as long.
Less than two weeks after the veteran Washington Capitals’ coach lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career, Trotz quit his job on Monday after failing to come to terms on a new contract extension.
Call it the price of winning.
Trotz, who was on the final year of his contract, would have probably been happy to sign an extension earlier in the year when the Capitals were treading water in the standings. But at the time, it didn’t seem as though the team wanted him back. That started to change in the playoffs, as Washington went further than it had in the history of the franchise.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman, Trotz’s contract had a built-in, twoyear extension if the Capitals won the Stanley Cup.
Suddenly, a coach who cameras caught mouthing “I’m done” to Columbus head coach John Tortorella after advancing past the first round, had been given a second life. But first, he expected a raise in salary.
Trotz, who spent the first 15 years of his NHL career behind the bench in Nashville, was not in a position to demand a huge salary when he took the job with Washington in 2015. After all, the Predators had never made it past the second round under his watch. But things have obviously changed in the last year. After leading Capitals to their first championship, the 55-year-old is now up there with Mike Babcock, Joel Quenneville and Claude Julien as one of the top coaches in the NHL.
As such, he basically priced himself out of D.C.
The question is who leaves next?
Free agent defenceman John Carlson? Fourth-line centre Jay Beagle and backup goalie Philipp Grubauer? The cook who prepares Alex Ovechkin’s pre-game lunch?
Paying people who have performed their job to the fullest of their capabilities is still a relatively new concept to the Capitals, who in the past 20 years had never made it past the second round of the playoffs. But as the Chicago Blackhawks know first hand having won three Stanley Cups in six years, with success comes sacrifices — usually in the form of players who want to be rewarded for winning.
It’s why Pittsburgh’s backto-back championships were so impressive. It’s also why Chicago finally missed the playoffs this year. There’s only so much you can do after losing three-quarters of your roster.
Arguably, Trotz’s departure hurts even more.
If Ovechkin was the heart of the Capitals, then Trotz was the main artery that controlled where the blood was pumping. His calm, sometimes self-deprecating demeanour, was the perfect antidote for a team that had been squeezing its collective sticks from year after year of early playoff exits.
It was Trotz who provided Ovechkin with a structured environment that highlighted — rather than stifled — his star player’s creativity. It was Trotz who lit a fire under goalie Braden Holtby by sitting the Vezina Trophy-winning goalie for the first two games of the playoffs. It was Trotz who brought Evgeny Kuznetsov out of his shell, who played the rookies, and who gave Lars Eller and Smith-pelly more responsibility.
Every team in the NHL wants that type of coach and — after showing it leads to a championship — is also willing to pay for it.
Will Trotz receive a salary above the US$6 or $6.25 million that Chicago’s Quenneville and Toronto’s Babcock receive, respectively? Maybe not. But don’t be surprised if it’s somewhere in the neighbourhood of the $5 million that Montreal’s Julien earns, particularly if New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello believes Trotz could be the deciding factor in convincing John Tavares into signing long-term.
Or maybe the Wild, who recently hired longtime Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton, decides to cut ties with Bruce Boudreau and hire a coach to get Minnesota over the hump.
Either way, Trotz is in high demand and will be calling his shots this summer. And he’s not alone.
Carlson, who led defencemen in scoring in both the regular season and the playoffs, should have no trouble getting north of $7 million annually from either Washington or some other team. Beagle, who was on a capfriendly $1.75 million, will be asking double or even triple that amount. And based on their playoff heroics, it’s safe to say that restricted free agents’ Tom Wilson ($2 million) and Devante Smith-pelly ($650,000) are in line for a huge bumps in pay.
What does this mean for the team going forward?
Well, between losing their coach and possibly their No. 1 defenceman — not to mention Ovechkin’s championship-level hangover — it’s looking less and less likely that the Capitals will repeat as Cup winners next season.