On May 26th, the Washington Capitals announced the hiring of both new head coach Barry Trotz and first-time general manager Brian MacLellan. At first glance, many Caps fans may prematurely question these moves, especially on the GM front, but as one of those diehards myself, let me explain why these two men have the potential to be the biggest game changers this organization has seen over the last decade.
Starting off with Trotz, who was undoubtedly the clear-cut, No. 1 choice to fill Washington’s vacant coaching position, the 51-year-old veteran bench boss possesses an invaluable quality that was noticeably missing from each of the team’s last three hires – experience.
Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter, and most recent attempt, hall of fame Capitals alumnus Adam Oates, all lacked the essential knowledge and understanding that a head coach can only acquire over time. None of them had previous track records in the league to go off of and as a result, their theories and methods were experimental to say the least.
With a team like the Caps, rookie leaders behind the bench was never going to produce the kind of success that owner Ted Leonsis had promised and hoped for. It’s quite apparent that this team needs someone who has “been there” and “done that” before. Someone who has already tried, failed, and been able to learn from their mistakes in order to create success. Someone who has built a reputation for themselves and earned the respect of the entire league. If it isn’t obvious yet, that someone is Trotz.
During his official introductory press conference on May 27th, Trotz had this to say regarding his opinion on where Washington stands when it comes to realistically being able to compete for a Stanley Cup.
“I don’t see why [we] can’t be in that mix right away,” said Trotz. “There’s enough ability here. We just have to forge a little bit of an identity going forward. We talked about work ethic and consistency and all that. It’s going to be a group effort.”
While I’m naturally inclined to respond pessimistically to that statement taking into consideration the amount of disappointing shortcomings the Caps have endured over the last few seasons, I tend to agree with the new head coach’s way of thinking. Why can’t Washington take the NHL by surprise next year? There’s more than enough talent throughout their lineup to do so. It just has to be utilized and intelligently placed within a coherent system that plays to their strengths, and Trotz is the right man to carry that plan out.
Shifting over to the newly promoted general manager of the Capitals, Brian MacLellan was a real shocker when he was named the undisputed winner of the team’s thorough interview process.
When Leonsis and team president Dick Patrick announced the firing of both Adam Oates and George McPhee on April 26, they collectively agreed that a “new voice” and “fresh set of eyes” was desperately needed to turn their team around. Most would have assumed hiring outside of the organization would have been the only possible way of acquiring that new perspective. However, that’s not the way things ended up.
Leonsis spoke on Washington’s decision to stay in-house for their GM position.
“When we started the process, that was not the intention in any way. We said we would be open-minded, that we would go and talk to as many candidates as we could, which we did,” said Leonsis. “Brian lived in Minnesota [when he worked as our assistant GM]…I had never really heard his voice. When Brian had his interview with us, he was very, very straightforward. It really wasn’t an interview where he was trying to impress us or impress me. He led off with some of the things that I have to do to be a better owner. I thought that was very brave and very astute because you don’t want to hear things like that. I thought that was very straightforward and honest and authentic to him. I was very appreciative of that because I obviously need to be a better owner.”
Going into an interview and beginning by telling the majority owner of that organization that they haven’t been doing their job right is indeed an extremely courageous and bold way to go about making a case for oneself. Obviously, it made MacLellan stand out among the rest.
MacLellan also talked a lot about what his vision is for the future of this team. He focused on the aspect of becoming one, cohesive unit as opposed to 20 different players who all have their own different styles and ways of playing the game. That’s something that the Caps have strikingly been unable to achieve. He then went on to somewhat criticize the team’s overall effort and preparation when it comes to being ready to play the same way every single night.
“I think conditioning has to be a big part of it,” said MacLellan. “Off-ice conditioning, training camp. I’ve encouraged Barry, I said, ‘we need to have a hard camp.’ We have to get everybody ready to play hard and set a tone for the organization. I think the off-ice workout culture needs to change a bit.”
As a fan, this kind of talk is immensely exciting. Creating a brand new culture that values qualities such as hard work, discipline, accountability, and balanced play for the betterment of the team as a whole is something that makes me want to fast-forward through the next four months of my life just to see what kind of results a Trotz-MacLellan combination can put on the ice.
With that in mind, wake me up when October rolls around.
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