Barry Trotz steps down as the coach of Stanley Cup champ Washington.
WASHINGTON —
Barry Trotz abruptly stepped down as coach of the Washington Capitals on Monday after failing to agree to terms on a new contract, leaving the newly minted Stanley Cup champions without a coach with the draft coming up later this week and free agency opening next month.
Winning the Cup less than two weeks ago triggered a two-year extension for Trotz that would have given him a slight bump in salary to just over $2 million, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. Trotz and the team could not agree on an annual salary that would have put him in line with other Cupwinning coaches. Toronto’s Mike Babcock makes the most at $6.25 million, Chicago’s Joel Quenneville is next at $6 million and Montreal’s Claude
Julien brings in $5 million.
“After careful consideration and consultation with my family, I am officially announcing my resignation,” Trotz said. “When I came to Washington four years ago, we had one goal in mind and that was to bring the Stanley Cup to the nation’s capital. We had an incredible run this season culminating with our players and staff achieving our goal and sharing the excitement with our fans.”
In a statement, the team thanked Trotz for the past four years and said it was grateful for his leadership and accomplishments.
Trotz, 55, went into the season with an uncertain future after ownership, and general manager
Brian MacLellan declined to talk about a contract extension last summer after back-toback Presidents’ Trophywinning seasons that ended with second-round exits.
Only the New York Islanders have a current coaching vacancy, though given Trotz’s success in Nashville and Washington, other teams might consider making a move to hire him. Trotz has the fifth-most victories in NHL history and has guided a team to the playoffs in 11 of his 19 seasons. He is 762-568-60-134 overall with the Predators and Capitals, and he won 205 of his 328 regular-season games (63 percent) since taking over as Washington’s coach in 2014.
PRO BASKETBALL Gay nixes option on Spurs contract
San Antonio Spurs forward Rudy Gay will not exercise his 2018-19 player option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, according to various media reports.
Gay will decline a salary of $8.8 million in order to test free agency. The 31-year-old veteran signed a two-year, $17 million deal with San Antonio last offseason, and the deal contained a player option on the second year.
During his lone season in San Antonio, Gay served in a reserve capacity for the first time in his 11-year NBA career. He appeared in 57 games during the 2017-18 campaign, averaging 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in a career-low 21.6 minutes per game.
GOLF Minnesota gets PGA Tour stop
The PGA Tour will soon be making a regular stop in Minnesota.
Long host to the 3M Championship, a thriving tournament on the senior circuit, the TPC Twin Cities course in suburban Minneapolis landed a spot on the main PGA Tour with a seven-year contract starting in 2019. The event will be called the 3M Open.
The 2019 dates for the 3M Open will not be confirmed until next month when the PGA Tour reveals its full schedule for the next FedEx Cup season, but there will be an opening in the first week in July. The purse is expected to begin in the $7 million range.
MEDIA Braddock, Jones taken off 790 AM
Sports-talk host Jayson
Braddock said he and former Oilers defensive lineman Sean Jones were told that their afternoon drive time show will no longer air on KBME (790 AM).
Braddock said he and Jones, who have hosted together for the last 11 months on the iHeart Media-owned station, received word of their termination in a brief meeting with station management shortly before they were scheduled to begin their Monday afternoon program.
Braddock, who said he signed a two-year contract with the station last year, and Jones initially were paired with Adam Clanton in afternoon drive. Clanton, however, was dismissed in May after morning drive host Josh
Innes made their longrunning disagreement public on his show.
Clanton, ironically, began work Monday as a part-time host at Entercom’s KILT (610 AM).
MISCELLANEOUS Dash acquire Comeau, Huerta
The Dash acquired midfielders Taylor Comeau and Sofia Huerta from the Chicago Red Stars for forward Christen Press’ rights and a conditional natural firstround draft pick in the 2020 National Women’s Soccer League college draft. … Jake Fisher limited Sugar Land to only four hits in seven innings in Long Island’s 5-0 Atlantic League victory over the Skeeters at Central Islip, N.Y.