Trotz resigns from Capitals

Less than two weeks after lifting the Stanley Cup, Washington coach Barry Trotz becomes a free agent.

Less than two weeks after lifting the Stanley Cup, Barry Trotz isa free agent and the Washington Capitals are looking for a new coach.

Trotz stepped down as Capitals coach Monday after a contract dispute over salary and term that leaves the newly minted Stanley Cup champions without a coach with the draft and free agency fast approaching. General manager Brian MacLellan said that the Capitals accepted Trotz’s resignation after they were unable to agree on terms of a new contract.

Winning the Cup triggered a two-year extension for Trotz that would have given him a slight bump in salary to just more than $2 million, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce the extension.

“His representative wants to take advantage of Barry’s experience and Stanley Cup win and was trying to negotiate a deal that compensates him as one of the better coaches in the league, top four or five coaches,” MacLellan said at a news conference in Arlington, Va. “I think the five-year term is probably a sticking point. You have a coach that’s been here four years, you do another five, that’s nine years. There’s not many coaches that have that lasting ability. It’s a long time and it’s a lot of money to be committing to a coach.”

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