The Washington Capitals do the right thing by firing Todd Reirden

The Washington Capitals have fired Todd Reirden after two consecutive playoff failures.

Just three days after their embarrassing first-round exit against the New York Islanders was complete, the Washington Capitals have fired head coach Todd Reirden after two seasons, and not a moment too soon.

General manager Brian MacLellan said in a press release that “We (the Capitals) have higher expectations for our team, and we felt a fresh approach in leadership was necessary”.

After the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, then-head coach Barry Trotz went into the offseason with an expired contract. There was a negotiated clause in his contract that would give him an increased salary on his next contract if he won the Stanley Cup, but Trotz felt he was worth more, so he got it elsewhere with the Islanders. Assistant coach Todd Reirden was hired as a replacement, and was unable to get the team anywhere close to where they needed to be.

The Todd Reirden experiment was a failure in Washington

Reirden had a record of 89-46-16 during his two regular seasons as head coach, and won the Metropolitan division both seasons. However, his playoff performances have been a complete mess. The Capitals were dominated in the playoffs by both the Hurricanes and Islanders at even strength, took far too many penalties, and crumbled at hardship. There was no intensity from anybody outside of Ovechkin in either of those playoff series. That falls on the coach failing to get his players ready, and failing to establish effective systems and structure.

The Capitals are yet to name a replacement for Reirden, but they cannot take a chance on a inexperienced coach. This team is old now, Ovechkin is 35 with one year left on his deal. They need a tenured coach, and luckily there are some solid options on the free agent market this offseason, the most notable of which being Gerard Gallant.

Gallant led the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018 (losing to these Capitals), and back to the playoffs a year later before being unexpectedly fired by Golden Knights in the middle of this past season despite having them in first place in the Pacific Division. Other coaches on the market like Peter Laviolette are good options, but don’t have the same track record. If the Capitals want to get the most out of this roster before it’s too late, Gallant is right option.

Firing Reirden was absolutely the right move for the Capitals, and there was no need to waste any time. The championship window for this team is running short, and eventually the wheels are going to fall off. A fresh voice in the locker room and some roster renovations are needed to get this team back to a Stanley Cup before it’s too late.