Report: Caps Close to Hiring Barry Trotz as New Head Coach

May 24, 2014 10:26 pm

Photo: Rich Lam

As first reported by the the Winnipeg Free Press’s Gary Lawless, the Washington Capitals are close to hiring former Predators head coach Barry Trotz. Trotz, who spent 16 years in Nashville, interviewed with Caps brass on Tuesday.

Trotz deal with #capitals is close but not complete. If things proceed as expected – announcement could come early this week #nhl

— gary lawless (@garylawless) May 25, 2014

Won't be surprised if former #nhljets coach Claude Noel is a candidate to be an assistant with Barry Trotz in Washington

— gary lawless (@garylawless) May 25, 2014

While Lawless is the first to report that the Manitoba native was nearing an agreement, he’s not the only respected industry source to point to the Caps to having serious interest in Trotz. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun called Trotz the front-runner for the position and that talks between the two sides were “intensifying.” Hockey Night In Canada’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Trotz was “closing in on Washington.”

Trotz has a long history with the Capitals and team president Dick Patrick. Per LeBrun:

[Trotz] served as a part-time scout for the organization in 1987, and joined it full time as its chief western scout in 1988.

He was named head coach of the Baltimore Bandits, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, in 1992. When the Skipjacks relocated to Portland, Maine, and became the Portland Pirates, he led them to two Calder Cup Finals appearances in four seasons and a championship in the 1994-95 season.

While Trotz played a mostly defensive-first scheme in Nashville, he recently explained that was due to the talent the team had. When speaking to The Washington Post’s Katie Carrera last week, Trotz said he’d tailor his system to fit the strengths of the players on the roster.

“You need balance and if you have dynamic people – I’ve always tried to assess the talent and say ‘Okay, how can we get better as a group and how can we win hockey games?,'” Trotz said. “I’ve played a number of different systems based on our personnel but I like the personnel to dictate the strength. In Nashville, our strength was in net and defense. So our team would take the personality of the top players and that was most often on the back end.”

In 1,196 NHL games, the 51-year-old is 557-479-60-100. The Predators, who were an expansion team when Trotz was first hired, made the playoffs seven times in 15 seasons. Five out of the seven times Trotz led the Predators to the playoffs, they lost in the first round. Twice they’ve made it to the second round and lost. Nashville, who’s roster lately has lacked offensive talent, has missed the playoffs the last two seasons.

Trotz has a wife, Kim, and four children: Shalan, Tyson, Tiana and Nolan. Trotz’s son Nolan has down syndrome and is inspirational figure for the family. Take a look at this video.

Trotz, who made a huge impact in the community while coaching in Nashville, is one of the notorious good guys in hockey. In 2005, he won the Community Spirit Award. He also took a full page ad out in the Tennessean thanking Predators fans for their support after he was fired.