NY Islanders make stunning announcement they’ve fired Barry Trotz
Anthony Scultore
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You can file this in the I Did Not See This Coming category, but the NY Islanders on Monday have announced the firing of head coach Barry Trotz.
It was an incredibly disappointing season for the franchise that had Stanley Cup aspirations. Beginning with a 13 game road-trip due to construction of the UBS Arena and then pummeled by COVID-19, the Islanders missed the playoffs and now Barry Trotz is no longer the coach.
However, Larry Brooks of the NY Post tweeted that he heard that it’s likely Trotz was looking to move on.
Islanders fire Barry Trotz
The New York Islanders had a really bad start to the year which was only made worse when they dropped 11 in a row (0-8-3) from November 7 to December 5.
Despite an impressive run to claw above .500, they were too far behind to make the playoffs in the highly competitive Eastern Conference.
Barry Trotz was able to finish this season with a record of 37-35-10 and a fifth place finish.
The 59 year-old head coach compiled a 152-103-34 record in 4 seasons with the Islanders that includes two runs to the Eastern Conference Final.
For his coaching career, he’s amassed a record of 914-670-60-168 over the course of 23 years. He spent 15 of those with the Nashville Predators and 4 with the Washington Capitals, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2017-2018.
Trotz an instant top candidate
You can expect that this unexpected news has teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers beyond excited at the prospect of hiring Trotz.
He is a two-time Jack Adams Award winner (2015-16 and 2018-19).
The Flyers are looking for a cultural change and Trotz would not only bring that but also a system that will finally address their defensive woes and likely extend the career of Carter Hart.
The Red Wings, who are a young and upcoming team could see Trotz as a long term solution to take them to the next level.
Finally, the Winnipeg Jets are looking for a new bench boss and may bring the Winnipeg native home.
