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Barry Trotz ‘is not worried’ about entering next season as a lame duck coach, says it has ‘zero effect’ on him

By Ian Oland

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June 30, 2017 3:46 pm

Per sportingcharts.com, a lame duck coach is a term used to describe a head coach who is in the last year of their contract. Most coaches that teams want to retain long term, will be offered an extension when they enter the final year of their contract, so that they aren’t a lame duck with zero job security.

But after losing three straight times in the second round, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz is currently a lame duck coach and is slated to be, in the words of Steven Tyler, livin’ on the edge during the 2017-18 season.

Friday at Development Camp, Trotz addressed his status and expressed confidence with reporters.

“It has zero point zero effect on me actually. Not at all,” Trotz said according to The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty. “I think it might have an effect 10, 12 years ago for me. Not now. It has zero effect. I’m not worried about that at all.”

We first learned about Trotz’s predicament in a 30 Thoughts column penned by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in May. Friedman reported that Trotz was entering the last year of his contract and that Trotz’s future was “incredibly” not secure. Trotz has guided the Capitals to two straight Presidents’ Trophy winning campaigns but has not pushed the team further in the ‘loffs.

In his end of season press conference with reporters, GM Brian MacLellan said that a contract extension between Trotz and the team has not been discussed. The Capitals also prevented associate head coach Todd Reirden from interviewing with other teams for their open head coaching positions.

This suggests that Reirden may be the team’s first choice to replace the sixth-winningest coach in NHL history if the team stumbles next season.

But Trotz, via Dougherty, remains unfazed by the situation.

Trotz was asked whether he hoped to have a deal done during next season.

“No, I really don’t care if it does or not,” he said. “It’s zero point zero. Zero point zero. So, that was my answer. I don’t care if it does or not. People want to talk, we’ll talk.”

Then Trotz offered one more thought on his current contract situation.

“Zero point zero,” he said as he walked away from the podium and back toward the locker room.