New York Islanders Fire Barry Trotz After 4 Seasons

What have you done for me lately?

That’s the message that New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello appeared to convey with Monday’s news that the club has parted ways with head coach Barry Trotz after four seasons.

Though the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time under Trotz’s tenure in the 2021-22 season, the announcement is a shocker.

The club got in a hole early while forced to open their season on a record-setting 13-game road trip while their new arena in Elmont, N.Y. was being completed, then needed some time to adjust to UBS Arena. They didn’t log their first home win until Dec. 11, nearly two months into the season. By that time, their record of 7-11-5 through 23 games had them four points out of the Eastern Conference basement, and 10 points out of a wild-card playoff spot.

Once they righted the ship, the Islanders went 30-24-5 the rest of the way. That would have been a 90-point pace over a full season — still not enough to qualify for the playoffs in a year where the Eastern Conference was sharply divided and all eight postseason contenders finished with at least 100 points.

When Trotz took over the Islanders in 2018, the franchise was reeling from the loss of captain John Tavares as an unrestricted free agent, and still looking for a long-term home as it was becoming clear that Barclays Center in Brooklyn was untenable.

The club was also coming out of two seasons outside the postseason picture, and had won just one playoff series since going to the Eastern Conference Final in 1993.

Under Trotz, the Islanders went 152-102-34 in the regular season and made the playoffs three times. In 2019, they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins before being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes. Then, they reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021, losing both times to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nevertheless, Lamoriello said Monday that “this decision was not primarily made on this season,” according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.

“I would like to thank Barry for everything he’s done for the organization for the last four years. It would be a tremendous understatement to say that this wasn’t an easy decision to make,” Lamoriello said. “This is a business decision as far as hockey and winning.”

Adding that he is looking for “a new voice,” Lamoriello said “what we need to do is get improvement out of our younger players and a more complete year out of some of our veterans than we did this year.”

According to CapFriendly, the Islanders are currently going into next season with 18 players signed and just over $12 million in cap space. Some work will need to be done on the blue line. Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield are under contract for next season, and Noah Dobson is a restricted free agent without arbitration rights. Graybeards Zdeno Chara, 45, and Andy Greene, 39, are both approaching unrestricted free agency and may retire, and 26-year-old blueliner Sebastian Aho — not to be confused with the forward who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes — can also become an unrestricted free agent.

Trotz, 59, has coached a total of 1,812 NHL games over 23 seasons with the Islanders, the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators — second-most all-time behind only Scotty Bowman. With a record of 914-670-168, with 60 ties, he’s third in wins behind Bowman and Joel Quenneville.

Trotz is also a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award, presented by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” He won in his first season with the Islanders in 2018-19 and with the Capitals in 2015-16.

Lamoriello hired Trotz to join the Islanders just two weeks after he’d captured the Stanley Cup in 2018, with the Capitals balking at meeting his asking price and eager to promote associate coach Todd Reirden to the top job. Washington had also moved quickly to secure Trotz’s services when his long tenure with Nashville ended in 2014.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Trotz has one year remaining on his contract with the Islanders, at $4 million. Salaries for NHL coaches are not widely publicized, but some numbers are in the public sphere. Mike Babcock’s eight-year, $50 million deal signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 was a high-water mark that has not yet been matched.

If Trotz decides to stay in coaching, he should have no shortage of suitors this time around, either. The Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings have vacancies. The Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks have both said that they’ll be conducting coaching searches but that their current interim incumbents, Dave Lowry and Derek King, respectively, are welcome to apply for the positions. Other teams may yet be looking at making changes, particularly now that a coach with Trotz’s pedigree and reputation has come available.

That is, if Trotz wants to remain behind the bench. As Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted, “Clubs with coaching vacancies or considering a change will have Trotz high on their radar. However, some believe Trotz also has interest in jumping into a management role. What is certain is that he will have options to be considered.