The Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup celebration party came to an abrupt end on Monday when reality sunk in.
Barry Trotz, who coached the team to its first Stanley Cup in franchise history, resigned from his job over contract matters.
According to NBC Sports Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir, Trotz sought a five-year contract at around $5 million per season from the Capitals.
I'm hearing Trotz sought 5 years at $5 million per and there wasn't a whole lot of movement off those numbers. That salary would have put Trotz on par with Julien and behind Quenneville and Babcock, who earn $6 million and $6.25 million, respectively.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) June 18, 2018
Caps GM Brian MacLellan said the team had an issue with the length of the contract Trotz wanted, as well as the money.
While discussing the sticking points with re: to Trotz, MacLellan mentioned that Trotz's ask was five years. MacLellan indicated that term was more of an issue than the $$$, though money was an issue, too.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) June 18, 2018
A telling quote from MacLellan after I asked why the Caps weren't willing to go to a longer-term, bigger-money contract: "There are probably four guys that are making that money, so it's the upper echelon. It's the big-revenue teams."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 18, 2018
MacLellan is getting emotional. Said he thinks Trotz probably does deserve to be paid as a top four or five coach, but not every team is willing to pay that.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 18, 2018
Even after enjoying the best season in franchise history, the Caps drew a line in the sand about how much they were willing to pay a coach, and they were not willing to go where Trotz wanted. He should have several suitors on the open market.
Both El-Bashir and Isabelle Khurshudyan suggested that the job is associate head coach Todd Reirden’s to lose. He’ll have big shoes to fill given the success Trotz enjoyed in DC.
