Capitals have one more hole to fill as head coach Barry Trotz resigns

In a surprising move, head coach Barry Trotz has decided to move on from the Stanley Cup-champion Washington Capitals.

After finally breaking through and conquering their demons, the Washington Capitals had figured on Barry Trotz being back in the fold next year to defend their Stanley Cup title.

Ultimately, that is not going to be the case, as Trotz resigned his post today.

Trotz issued a statement after not being able to agree on terms for a new contract earlier today.

For their part, the Capitals also released a statement on this very surprising development.

What’s very interesting is Trotz is pretty clearly not retiring at this point. This is just a matter of the coach and the organization not being able to agree on a contract, which you wouldn’t think would be a problem while they’re basking in the glow of a Cup win.

Trotz actually had an extension automatically kick in with the Cup victory, according to Eliotte Friedman, but it appears that money became an issue, as these thing typically come down to.

There are a few big questions that Caps fans will want answered in the coming days, not the least of which is why the first coach to ever deliver a title won’t be back behind the bench for the upcoming season.

Was this simply a matter of the Capitals not wanting to pay him? Was Trotz asking for an exorbitant amount even for a Cup champion? The Washington statement says very little about why Trotz won’t be back and there’s going to be some fans who are not happy about this situation, understandably so.

It will be very interesting to see how captain Alex Ovechkin reacts to the news when he finds out. He’s living his best life, celebrating the championship as he should be but this news likely puts a damper on things.

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Trotz will carry a .677 winning percentage from his time in Washington with him into his free agency. His career total is much lower but that’s dragged down by many years in Nashville with very poor teams. He’s a premier coach in the NHL, especially with a ring on his finger.

He will likely not be out of work for long and the Capitals have one more hole to fill to defend their title for next season.