Coaches Around the NHL Share Barry Trotz’s “Old School” Tendencies Part 2
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Expanding on Part 1 of this series which evaluates coaches amongst the Washington Capitals’ Metro Division rivals and whether they share some of Barry Trotz’s old school tendencies, I also asked experts of other successful teams around the NHL what they thought of their coaches. As a refresher, I’ve written on this site about Barry Trotz, stating that he’s a very good coach overall while also questioning his logic behind certain decisions. In a nutshell, my concern (shared by many) is that Barry Trotz is still a big believer in old-timey tautologies that ex-jocks and coaches think provide more value to a team than they do.
These usually come down to valuing fourth line scrubs or slow defensemen who can’t get the puck out of their own end while devaluing skilled players who contribute to positive puck possession numbers. See my rant on Top Jay Beagle and Press Box Andre Burakovsky from a few weeks ago which is still fresh to this day, unfortunately.
"1) Continuing to play Jay Beagle on the top line in favor of Andre Burakovsky. Beagle is a perfectly fine fourth liner and has a certain value to a team. He’s good at suppressing shots against, a solid penalty killer and an excellent faceoff guy. Beagle should in no way be playing on the first line more than once in a blue moon. Unfortunately, putting Beagle on the top line seems to be Barry Trotz’s go-to move when he’s unhappy with the team’s overall performance. Burakovsky, being a skilled forward under the age of 25, is an easy target and seems to pay the price for the entire team’s misgivings in those situations. Sending a message once or twice? That’s fine. This is a pattern of behavior, though, for Barry Trotz. He has an affinity for Beagle and perhaps an irrational fear of Burakovsky’s rookie mistakes which in his mind seem to outweigh his overall very good play. Beagle has now started three consecutive games next to Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and I’d argue that, while one forward out of twelve can only have so much negative impact on his team in a single game, Top Line Beagle has hurt this team this week to some degree. The top-line was mediocre in a strong overall possession game for the Caps in their 1-0 loss to Montreal and who knows? If Burakovsky starts that game, maybe it’s enough of a difference to put the Caps on the board. Ovechkin is playing as well as he has at any point in his career right now and it’s carrying the offense around him. The secondary scoring has, by in large, been lacking recently. Burakovsky, by possession numbers and point scoring pace is one of the best forwards on the team with little debate. He would probably help the team with that issue. Beagle, for his part, had a nasty turnover against the Habs in front of the Caps’ net that led to a critical Brooks Oprik penalty late in the game. He took two penalties yesterday against St. Louis. What example is he providing, again? Oates Approval Rating: 9 Oates would definitely approve of Beagle on the top line, except in his opinion, Barry Trotz probably isn’t playing him there regularly enough, therefore the move only gets a 9 on the Oates Approval Rating scale. Still, Oates would likely be proud that Barry Trotz is carrying on what has become a franchise tradition started by Dale Hunter three years ago and continues today."
All that said, I asked some experts of other teams outside the Metro to weigh in with their thoughts on what old-school stuff, if any, their coaches do that riles them up. Check out the analysis on the Nashville Predators, LA Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.