Isles fire Trotz after missing playoffs for 1st time in his 4-year tenure
Barry Trotz is out as New York Islanders head coach, as the club dismissed him Monday after four seasons.
Trotz guided the Islanders to back-to-back semifinal-round appearances before they failed to qualify for the postseason in 2021-22. New York made the playoffs in his first three campaigns at the helm, bowing out in the second round in 2018-19.
The 59-year-old won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top bench boss that season, three years after claiming it with the Washington Capitals.
Trotz went 152-102-34 for a .587 points percentage with the Islanders.
"It's my role to make the best decision for the organization going forward and I believe this group of players needs a new voice. It's in no way negative on Barry Trotz," club president of hockey operations and general manager Lou Lamoriello said Monday, according to MSG's Shannon Hogan.
Lamoriello added that he didn't consult the players and made the decision to part with Trotz on his own, per the New York Post's Mollie Walker.
This season was a particularly difficult one for the Islanders. They played the first 13 games of their regular-season schedule on the road while awaiting the opening of UBS Arena and were then ravaged by a COVID-19 outbreak in November, which ultimately forced them to play 45 games in 90 nights to close out the campaign.
Trotz turned the club into a defensive juggernaut after arriving in June 2018 following a four-year stint with the Capitals and 15 years with the Nashville Predators. He employed a suffocating system with New York, and the Islanders executed it to near-perfection for much of his time with the squad until this season's struggles.
The Canadian coach led Washington to a Stanley Cup victory in 2018 before deciding to leave that team.
Trotz will surely be a leading candidate for head coaching vacancies. The Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers already have openings. Winnipeg Jets interim coach Dave Lowry will be invited to interview for the role, but there's a chance he won't return. It's also unclear whether the Vancouver Canucks will retain Bruce Boudreau.