Capitals-Penguins: The Todd Reirden Connection
Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
With the recent departure of former Capitals forward Eric Fehr to the Pittsburgh Penguins, fans in both cities have been left scratching their heads over the latest in a string of roster moves between the Capitals and Penguins. Examining these transactions with a little extra scrutiny may provide us with some insight into the logic of both franchises’ strategies or it may chronicle a series of coincidences. You decide.
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On June 25th, 2014, the Pittsburgh Penguins relieved defensively-minded Assistant Coach Todd Reirden of his duties. The Capitals organization snatched him up that same day. Reirden, who began his career in hockey playing alongside former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma at Bowling Green State University in the early nineties, would later return to his alma mater in 2007-2008 as the Falcons’ assistant coach.
A bright hockey mind, Reirden landed the Assistant coaching position in the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins the following season and was reunited with Bylsma who had replaced current Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards as their head coach. “Disco Dan” would find himself moving up again, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A year later, with Reirden at his side again, the dynamic duo won the Stanley Cup together.
Reirden coached some very dynamic defenses for the Penguins until the 2014 Penguins were defeated 4-3 by the lower-seeded Rangers in the second round of the playoffs and heads began to roll. General Manager Ray Shero, Dan Bylsma and Todd Reirden all found themselves without a job. The Capitals saw an opportunity to improve their defense and hired Reirden. Ironically, the Penguins allegedly waited to fire Bylsma to make sure that the Capitals couldn’t hire him.
While fans will remember the occasional trade action between the clubs prior to 2014, such as the 2008 move that sent briefly-tenured Capitals forward Matt Cooke to the Penguins or the 2012 deal to send goaltender Tomas Vokoun up to the Steel City for a 7th rounder, there didn’t appear to be a theme. Goalie Brent Johnson, Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Murphy, defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Jaromir Jagr are among the other players to have played for both the Capitals and the Penguins.
On July 1st, 2014 however, Todd Reirden spoke up as the Capitals new defensive boss. Deals to former Penguins’ defensemen Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen and winger Chris Conner would be inked by the end of the day. It seemed clear that new coach Barry Trotz and new GM Brian MacLellan allowed Reirden to have an impact on the Capitals roster.
This off-season, it appears they haven’t changed their stance. On July 1st, the Capitals picked up another former Penguin defenseman Taylor Chorney and forward Zack Sill of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but who had been a long time part of the Penguins affiliated roster since 2009 (the year after Reirden joined them). It appears that Reirden has left his imprint on these players over the years and wants to be surrounded by his guys again in Washington. I’d wager that Trotz and Reirden have likely spent many film sessions together discussing how to form a team defense that’s difficult to play against – a trait that Capitals teams of the past have overlooked. When the Capitals have had team defenses that were difficult to play against (mainly in the 1980’s), they didn’t have opportunistic offenses.
Capitals fans have reveled in the smug satisfaction that comes from spiriting away an opposing divisional rival’s marquee talent and prospects, but before fans could feel too inflated this off-season, they were reminded that the trade and free agency door swings both ways. Capitals fan favorites Steven Oleksy and Eric Fehr have joined the Penguins’ ranks and GM Jim Rutherford looks to have his own agenda in play. Fehr said this of joining the Penguins:
"Well, I really liked the fit with the Penguins. I think it’s a very high-powered offense and there’s a lot of skilled players on that team. It was definitely something that drew my interest and they’re a team I’m happy to be a part of…It’s going to be very, very interesting, that’s for sure. Obviously Pittsburgh was a very tough team to play against when I was in Washington, and as much as you dislike the other team, you always respect them. But now, I’m really excited to be a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins and be on the other side of the rivalry. – NHL.com"
Yeah, I know. It turns my stomach, too.
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Jim Rutherford has made quite a splash in this year’s free agency by acquiring star winger Phil Kessel. A look at the depth on the team’s projected roster and analyzing what sort of players they are, leaves me to suspect they are loading the team up with skilled goal-scorers, at the expense of grittier big-bodied enforcer types which he has made no mistake in remarking his disdain for the brand of violence and fighting they bring.
While Ray Shero has also taken this stance, he understood the important roles these players provide. Take a look at how many silly retaliation penalties the Penguins took in last year’s losing playoff series against the Rangers. Like it or not, having guys like Tom Wilson can keep teams a little more accountable in longer series. Trying to match goal scoring with more goal scoring can be a slippery slope and defined the Capitals years under Boudreau.
Fortunately for us, we’ve compiled a roster that can not only score from multiple lines, but battle back when the pace of the game slows down. I don’t think the Penguins are going to have that this year and that’s a potential boon for us. They will certainly be fun to watch and the more logs we can throw on our rivalries fire, the more fantastic hockey I predict will follow. Todd Reirden doesn’t fit in with the Jim Rutherford and Mike Johnston breed of hockey. That’s why he’s here, really. Only time will tell if Reirden can repeat the successful formula that found him hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2009, but with the accompaniment of players, coaches and staff that we’ve assembled for the Capitals 2015-2016 season: I’ve got faith.