Caps pick Reirden to replace Trotz

Gulutzan was given a raise and the associate coach title by the Capitals.

As the assistant in charge of the defense, Reirden had a hand in the development of John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov.

“I thought he was crucial for my career and just changed kind of a few things how I looked at the game, changed a few things with the D that I think really benefited everyone on D and made it pretty clear what he expected of us and allowed us to go out there and do the rest,” Carlson said after signing a $64 million eight-year contract to stick around.

MacLellan said last week this was Reirden’s job to lose.

“He’s got history there and he’s ready to try it as a head coach, and he’s been successful with our defensemen,” he said. “I think he can handle the personalities in our room.”

Reirden takes over a defending champion led by captain and playoff MVP Alex Ovechkin, who was motivated by Trotz to adapt his game at age 32.

He is the first assistant to take over for a Cup-winning coach the next season since Dave Lewis replaced the retired Scotty Bowman with Detroit in 2002-03 and the first to follow a champion coach who left in a contract dispute since Colin Campbell replaced Mike Keenan with the New York Rangers in 1994-95.

Reirden describes his coaching personality as a mix of those he has worked with in the past — the honesty of Joel Quenneville and the systems skills of Todd McLellan and Todd Richards.

He drew rave reviews from Capitals trade-deadline acquisition Michal Kempny, who credited Reirden for putting together an effective plan that contributed to a key part of the Cup run.