Trotz was allowed to build a Nashville team from scratch, they missed the playoffs five straight years, that allowed them to draft Legwand #2 (228 goals), Adam Hall (#52), Hartnell (#6), Hamhuis (#12), Upshall (#6), they also shrewdly took advantage of prejudice against Europeans, adding Skrantins (#230), Erat (#190), Rinne (#258) and Kimmo, as well as Hendriks (#131) and Tootoo (#91) - then they hit a HR in the 2003 draft, Ryan Suter (#7), Kevin Klein (#37), Weber (#49).
So it's not like Trotz performed miracles in Nashville, he was also aided by the strike year, when the teams came back in 2005-06 he had a loaded team with a year to physically mature, and some key veterans added - Paul Kariya (31 goals), Steve Sullivan (31 goals) and Yanick Perreault (22 goals).
His defense, Hamhuis, Kimmo, Zidlicky, Eaton, Markov, Suter, with Weber as your 7th.
He also had Vokoun in goal (.919, .920 before he was traded to Fla for a 1st and 2 2nd rd picks to make room for Rinne).
When Q took over in St Louis, they had made the playoffs 18 straight years, but he took them up another notch.
When Q took over in Colorado after the strike, they had 105 and 100 points seasons, but were an aging team (Sakic and Blake, his two best players, were 36), he kept them afloat - that might have been his best coaching performance.
Whe Q took over in Chicago in mid-season, they had made the playoffs once in 9 years, but had amassed a group of great young talent and were on the verge of a breakout, Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Byfuglien, Brouwer, Crawford, etc., who were just entering their peak years.
Point is they are good coaches, but Trotz didn't win until he got a lot of talent, and he took over what may have been the most talented team in the league when he went to the Caps. And he was allowed to coach through 5 first round exits (and a missed playoff) in six years in Nashville - how many franchises are that patient with a HC?
Q took over a St Louis team that was a perennial winner, an Avs team that was in the top eight, and a loaded Chicago team that was finishing a total rebuild.
Neither coach performed "miracles." They made good teams better, they took loaded young teams and made them winners, but they didn't win without a lot of talent.
