After being let go by the New York Islanders, free agent head coach Barry Trotz has been the top of every team’s list so far, with a lot of sources linking him to the Winnipeg Jets.
Trotz Decides Coaching Decision
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Trotz has decided to take a step back from coaching and to focus on his family. He informed the Winnipeg Jets of his decision on Friday.
This rules out a major contender in the vacant position for the Jets, who was all but a guarantee for the spot.
In an exclusive interview, with @TimNHL, Barry Trotz explains his decision to not coach the Jets, or any other team in the NHL next season.https://t.co/K4UBcszYO6
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) June 24, 2022
Trotz was also in play for a front office role in Nashville, considering that he was the longest serving coach in franchise history, and it is the team where he started his NHL coaching career.
Trotz apparently acknowledged how hard it was to not take the Jets head coaching job, as it was his hometown team.
What This Means
As mentioned earlier, this takes a major coach out of the free agent pool, and takes away the top contender for a lot of teams.
For the Jets, this takes out the top contender, and now means that they need to consider others for the positions. There are rumblings about Jim Montgomery being the top contender for the job, although this is unclear.
With Trotz taking time for his family, teams are now turning to other coaches, giving them a shot at a head coaching role. One of the more recent being former Montreal Canadiens assistant Luke Richardson, who landed the Head Coaching role with the Chicago Blackhawks.
This is a good move for the NHL, as now younger and newer coaches get a chance to take the helm of an NHL franchise, instead of an experienced coach from the same group take the role. This has been a constant complaint amongst the NHL community, and now there seems to be a shift towards a potential solution.
