Islanders hire Trotz as coach fresh off Stanley Cup win with Capitals
When Barry Trotz left the Washington Capitals fresh off winning the Stanley Cup, the New York Islanders couldn't move fast enough to talk to him.
Minutes after word circulated that Trotz resigned from the Capitals, Islanders president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello got in touch. On Thursday, the Islanders hired Trotz and hope to benefit from the first Stanley Cup-winning coach leaving his team in a contract dispute in 24 years.
"It's certainly not something that you see every day," Lamoriello said Thursday after the NHL general managers meeting. "But I think we're the fortunate recipient of it that we were able to have him come in our organization."
The Capitals weren't willing to pay top dollar to keep Trotz in the fold, so the Islanders pounced and have a fresh selling point to try to retain face of the franchise John Tavares. Trotz, who brings his resume with the fifth-most wins in NHL history, two Presidents' Trophy seasons and now a Stanley Cup, has already been in touch with Tavares, who can begin speaking with other teams next week and become a free agent July 1.
"That's something that really is John's mind," Lamoriello said. "We don't know what he's thinking, but certainly he's a very important part of this franchise."
Trotz considers himself one piece of the puzzle of re-signing Tavares and believes the process is in good hands with Lamoriello, who won the Cup three times as New Jersey's GM and 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.
Trotz is now a part of it after the Islanders gave him the kind of longterm, big-money contract the Capitals weren't willing to commit to the 55-year-old who coached them the past four seasons. The deal is reportedly for five years at $4 million or more annually, more than double what he would have made in Washington.
After hoping the Capitals would renegotiate the automatic two-year extension that kicked in for winning a Cup and offered only a $300,000 raise to about $2 million, Trotz took the chance on leaving and found an immediate home three days after resigning.