Barry Trotz Season Review: Changing The Culture
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
A deeper look into Barry Trotz’s first season as the Washington Capitals head coach
The Washington Capitals had a successful season. Here at Stars and Sticks, we’ll analyze each of the Washington Capitals and their season. Last time, we looked at Joel Ward, who had a quietly efficient season in perhaps his last one with the Washington Capitals. Today, we look at the head coach Barry Trotz.
Barry Trotz 2014-2015 Season Review
THE GOOD: Barry Trotz did a ton of good things for the Capitals in his first season with the team. The most important thing he did was he completely changed the way that they did everything. The high risk Caps offense disappeared. The defensive system? Completely rebuilt. Best of all? Barry Trotz got everyone to buy into it.
More from Capitals News
- Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
- Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
- Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
- Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
- Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back
How did Barry Trotz get everyone to buy into his culture and system changes? By gaining the player’s trust. Unlike Dale Hunter and Adam Oates, not only did Trotz let Alex Ovechkin be the best player in the world again, he helped Ovechkin become a much better player by being detail oriented. Trotz played a large role in Nicklas Backstrom leading the NHL in assists. He played a large role in the team’s success? Why? He let them be what they were and (usually) did an excellent job of utilizing them correctly. At the same time, he held players accountable when they needed to be held accountable.
Barry Trotz will never get the credit that he deserves for this, but he did a fantastic job of adjusting what he knew and applying it to the Caps while also changing a few things to better suit the Caps. In Nashville, he never had anyone close to the talent level of Ovechkin or Backstrom. Trotz adjusted his system to fit them as opposed to forcing them to fit his system.
A lot of Caps fans were mad at Trotz regarding his treatment of young forwards, but I think Trotz did a great job managing them. I’ll admit, that was a huge area of concern for me at the beginning of the season. However, Trotz learned and he adjusted. He stuck with Evgeny Kuznetsov as his second line center even when he probably should have made a switch. Lo and behold, Kuznetsov grew throughout the season and emerged as a star in the playoffs. He gave Tom Wilson multiple chances to be that top six forward that he knew he could be. Wilson didn’t do as well as expected, but still, Wilson got the chances that Oates never gave him.
Andre Burakovsky is a young forward who I think Trotz did especially well with. He managed his playing time while also helping him become a much more complete player. He gave him chances to be a first line forward. I wish he would have gotten more chances as a first line forward, but I could easily understand Trotz’s logic in his treatment of Burakovsky. That’s a heck of a lot more than I can say for most coaches and how they treat young forwards.
Barry Trotz made the blue line so much better. He helped John Carlson turn into a borderline Norris candidate. His usage of Mike Green was brilliant and it helped Green have his best regular season in years. Brooks Orpik looked at least three years younger. Karl Alzner was sort of an offensive threat for the first time in his career. Oh, and Barry Trotz trusted Braden Holtby because he saw that he was a franchise goaltender. He challenged him to be one and Holtby repaid Trotz for his trust.
THE BAD: There were some bad things about Barry Trotz’s first season with the Caps. The largest one is how the team did in the playoffs. Did they choke? I’d say no since the Rangers were a better team than the Capitals. However, here we are in June and Trotz didn’t take the Capitals any further than Dale Hunter did. Granted, it’s just his first season, but still, a concern.
Barry Trotz also failed in not realizing how good Nate Schmidt is. I realize that Schmidt isn’t the ideal blue liner for “heavy hockey”, but still, Trotz took away a guy from the team who was clearly helping it. Worst of all, Trotz made the decision to play Tim Gleason, who hurt the Caps more than he helped them, over Schmidt simply because Gleason was bigger. If Barry Trotz wants to win with the Caps, he has to be willing to trust guys like Schmidt.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: Trotz had a phenomenal first season in DC. However, he must continue to improve and to make adjustments to win a Cup with the Caps. He has to trust Kuznetsov, Burakovsky and Schmidt because while they don’t fit the “heavy hockey” mold, they tend to make good things happen that lead to goals scored. Also, as much as he trusts Holtby, Trotz should really open up the offense more. Holtby is a Vezina-caliber goalie who can mask the flaws of the Caps. Why not take more chances?
Next: Washington Capitals Season In Review