Islanders waste no time, sign Trotz as coach

Barry Trotz has gone from lifting the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals to coaching the New York Islanders in just two weeks.

Islanders president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello hired Trotz on Thursday, three days after he resigned from the Capitals, and gave him the kind of longterm security Washington wouldn’t.

Immediately scooping up an accomplished, Cup-winning coach is the Islanders’ latest step to try to keep face of the franchise John Tavares, who can become a free agent on July 1.

“If you know anything about Lou Lamoriello, his background and what he does, he will do what it takes to win,” Trotz said on a conference call. “I felt strongly that once Lou gets with John … Lou is going to execute a plan, a long-term plan that will be very successful so we can chase the Stanley Cup and win a Stanley Cup.”

Trotz’s deal reportedly is worth double what he would have made annually on an automatic extension that kicked in with the Capitals, and it runs for five years instead of two.

Trotz, 55, who helped Washington win the Presidents’ Trophy in backto-back seasons and then the Cup, didn’t feel Washington was willing to increase his salary and decided to leave.

Lamoriello and the Islanders called almost right away, getting a deal done with Trotz before the draft begins on Friday night and with time to spare before Tavares can talk to other teams about a contract. Trotz already has spoken to Tavares and said the situation “is in good hands” with Lamoriello, a three-time Cup-winning general manager with New Jersey who also helped turn Toronto back into a playoff team.

“If you know anything about those two parties, they are of the highest integrity, both of those gentlemen,” Trotz said of Lamoriello and Tavares. “I think that they’ll have great dialogue and we’re hoping to have John be a part of it, for sure.”

Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said a longterm contract and Trotz’s representative wanting to have him paid among the top four or five coaches in the NHL were sticking points, and Trotz asked for and was given the opportunity to resign on Monday.

“I went to the Caps and said: ‘You know, it’s a little unfair based on value around the league. Just tell me if anything could be done,’” Trotz said. “When I got the response, I knew it was time to go in a different direction.”