Washington Capitals Coach Barry Trotz Resigns

WASHINGTON, DC -- Washington Capitals Head Coach Barry Trotz has resigned, just 11 days after winning the organization's first Stanley Cup in its 44-year history.

The Washington Capitals announced Trotz's decision after the two were unable to come to terms on a new contract.

“Barry Trotz informed the organization today of his decision to resign as head coach of the Washington Capitals,” the team wrote in a statement. “We are obviously disappointed by Barry’s decision, but would like to thank Barry for all his efforts the past four years and for helping bring the Stanley Cup to Washington. Barry is a man of high character and integrity and we are grateful for his leadership and for all that he has done for our franchise.”

Both sides had sounded optimistic about coming to terms on a new deal in the days after the Capitals prevailed in five games over the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals. But the talks apparently broke down recently, with one report suggesting that money was the overriding factor.

The Washington Post reports that this was the last season of Trotz's four-year deal, and speculation had grown the franchise would fire him earlier in the season as the team struggled at times. But the their surprising Stanley Cup run suddenly made Trotz a valued commodity in the Capitals organization once again.

Trotz's contract had a clause that gave him an automatic two-year extension if he won the Stanley Cup. But since Trotz was making just $1.5 million per season, and the extension came with a modest salary bump, the Post report that Trotz may have felt he should be paid more along the lines of $5 or $6 million, like other Stanley Cup-winning coaches have been paid in recent years. The Capitals, meanwhile, reportedly felt that Trotz had negotiated this deal and wasn't honoring his end of the bargain.

The Capitals are likely to promote assistant coach Todd Reirden, who was brought in from the Pittsburgh Penguins along with defensemen Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik in 2014, as the new head coach.

To be clear: Trotz was getting a raise, but not to the level of some of the highest-paid coaches in the league. And not really all that close. Babcock, Quenneville and Julien all make $5 million and up. So he was under contract for two more years and decided to resign. https://t.co/ylM62uUhSo
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 18, 2018

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