PARADISE ISLAND
Cup-winning Trotz latest move to turn around team
DALLAS — Boy, how things have fallen into place for the Islanders. And it all has happened so fast.
The total restructuring of the organization, which continued with the hiring of Barry Trotz as the new head coach on Thursday, only could have been thought of as fantasy a few months ago.
And if negotiations with captain John Tavares continue to progress — with the sides closing what now seems like a very small gap and Tavares re-signing rather than hitting free agency on July 1 — then it will seem like the Islanders have completely turned the corner.
That’s exactly what principal owner Scott Malkin and partner Jon Ledecky have wanted to do since they took over full time in the 2016-17 season. It just so happens that the timing could not have worked out better — picking up Lou Lamoriello to run the front office on May 22 after he ran into a contractual squabble with the Maple Leafs, and now getting Trotz just weeks removed from winning the Stanley Cup with the Capitals and running into his own contractual disagreements with Washington brass.
“I stepped down to take some chances, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a call almost immediately,” Trotz said on a conference call Thursday.
“I said, ‘I’m in, I want to listen.’ Obviously talked to Mr. Lamoriello, had a terrific conversation. Told me about his vision and his plan for the team, what he’s already done in a very short period of time. He was able to continue changing a lot of the things, a lot of the cultural things, all that. I love that.
“That’s why they hired me in Washington, to change a little bit of the culture and try to win a Stanley Cup. So I’m going to try to do the same thing on the Island. I’m excited about the whole process.”
The most important person to be excited will be Tavares, who has seen the cronyism of the Charles Wang era eliminated. Just two weeks after Lamoriello was hired, he essentially fired long-time general manager Garth Snow and neophyte coach Doug Weight. Both still technically are with the team, but they are in lesser (if not totally unimportant) roles.
Now Lamoriello picks up a coach who brings an impressive reputation — and a résumé that has a championship on it, this year being the first time Trotz was able to get out of the second round.
“I think what we need is an individual that can walk in that locker room, with the players who are there who have not really had a lot of success, and he walks in there [with] instant success,” Lamoriello said after leaving the GM meetings here on Thursday evening. “People follow that, and I think that’s a very important thing for these young men.”
Trotz said he had a “great conversation” with Tavares, and there is optimism the captain will remain part of this.
“If you know anything about John, he’s as classy a captain as there is in the National Hockey League,” said Trotz, who worked with Tavares in the Olympics and during the World Cup of Hockey. “He’s passionate, he’s very insightful, very intelligent. His one goal is just to win. I’m fortunate that we have the vision, myself and Lou, we want to build something on the Island. John wants to be part of that as well.”
Trotz will turn 56 on July 15, and he stepped away from the Capitals after four seasons — during which they won the Metropolitan Division three times and finally broke through this season. After winning, his contract had a clause that extended it two years with a modest raise on his already below-value $1.5 million per season.
He said the Capitals made it clear they wanted to move on rather than give him a substantial raise, so he resigned and became a coaching free agent. It’s likely the contract he received from the Islanders was some- where around five years with an annual pay around $5 million.
Trotz began his NHL head-coaching career with the expansion Predators in 1998, and was in Nashville for 15 years, making the playoffs seven times. He has 1,524 games of experience, and an overall record of 762-568-60-134.
Known to be a defensive-minded coach, he said he likes the Islanders’ roster and believes the team can play a fast game while still defending a lot better than it did this past season, while giving up the most goals in the league. It was the second straight year the Islanders missed the playoffs, and they have just one postseason-series victory since 1993.
But change has already come very quickly to this franchise, and thus far, it’s worked out just about as well as could have been imagined.
“I can tell you this,” Trotz said, “when I’ve done my research on the general manager in Lou and the organization, they are fully committed to making this a great franchise, which it has been in the past and it will be again.”