Barry Trotz's tenure as Caps coach (RS: Healthy; Playoff: 2nd Round Exititis)

[Capitlols]

So when is Trotz getting axed? Thought it would of happened by now.

 

[PB12]

So when is Trotz getting axed? Thought it would of happened by now.

Your getting your hopes up. Trotz has a few trump cards. All he has to say is his franchise star was and nobody wanted to shoot. If Trotz tells Mac this he is safe. Now i know you will come back with the "Ha the players arn't listening, he has to get canned" quote. But lets face it, he only had 2 and half shooters.

 

[Stewie G]

How many "shooters" do other teams have? The salary cap doesn't allow for a team of "shooters". They needed more from the bottom 6, more consistent play from Holtby, and better coaching adjustments.

 

[twabby]

How many "shooters" do other teams have? The salary cap doesn't allow for a team of "shooters". They needed more from the bottom 6, more consistent play from Holtby, and better coaching adjustments.

I think the bolded is absolutely key, and part of the reason I think Trotz's time should be up.

He is a fine enough coach at developing an overall strategy for success over the course of a season where opponents can't gameplan for you. But when it comes to in-game and in-series adjustments Trotz seemingly has no answers or is way too slow to come up with answers. It took him 3 full games before adjusting to what Toronto was doing to the Capitals, and it took him 4 games against Pittsburgh. And in Game 7 when Pittsburgh made their counter-adjustments Trotz wasn't able to come up with any answers in-game which helped lead to a complete dud.

Japers Rink mentioned it and I couldn't agree more that Trotz and the Capitals always seem to chase playoff series rather than dictate it from the get go, save for maybe last season against the Flyers. It felt like Babcock had a gameplan going into Game 1 on how to attack the Capitals whereas Trotz didn't do any preparation and instead waited to see what Toronto would do. He should have known that 27-74 would be eaten alive by Matthews given their struggles in the regular season, he should have known Orpik would struggle against Toronto given his struggles against faster teams, and he should have known that Schmidt would be a better option.

They were lucky enough to get out of the Toronto series given the apparently lack of gameplanning for games 1-3 but they weren't as lucky against Pittsburgh. They should have known that Pittsburgh would try to play a rope-a-dope, shot-blocking type of game and countered that starting in Game 1 given that this is exactly how they played against Columbus but instead it took them several games to figure out how to counter it.

Trotz just seems slow to think on his feet, even if his overall vision is admirable. I think they need a more creative guy behind the bench and someone who's willing to experiment during the regular season when things aren't going absolutely perfectly. They need a guy who can gameplan for specific opponents, and I don't think Trotz is that guy.

 

[PB12]

How many "shooters" do other teams have? The salary cap doesn't allow for a team of "shooters". They needed more from the bottom 6, more consistent play from Holtby, and better coaching adjustments.

A team usually has about 5 to 6 shooters. And i'm not talking about goal scorers. OV, JW, snd Oshie were the only guys who had a set. Mojo and Kuzy wanted to play circles with the puck, snd didn't step up until we were in danger of being elimitated. Bura is a mystery to me. He showed some flashes of what he could be but he also showed some flashes of Mojo syndrome. As for the others there is no urge or their shots are weak. They don't have that drive. Get a few selfish guys. Get guys who want the puck on their sticks and want to take the shot when it counts.

 

[RandyHolt]

I think the bolded is absolutely key, and part of the reason I think Trotz's time should be up...

Great post. All very much like I said at the end of last season - clearly hesitant to adjust when the real coaching starts for NHL coaches. Maybe in a back to back he tries some adjustments, but I doubt it.

I gave him until Christmas after last season, and that is when our team awoke from a very lame start to the season.

Domination, long break, eeking out wins, struggle against a 8 seed happy to be in the loffs, and then our annual choke to Pitt in 7 after refusing to adjust in the first half of the series. Seemingly not even prepared for game 1 more than, lets just see what they do and play it tight.

No surprise really, lots of similarities in his team and coaching style in the RS year to year, which led to a very similar ending to the season.

 

[txpd]

A team usually has about 5 to 6 shooters. And i'm not talking about goal scorers. OV, JW, snd Oshie were the only guys who had a set. Mojo and Kuzy wanted to play circles with the puck, snd didn't step up until we were in danger of being elimitated. Bura is a mystery to me. He showed some flashes of what he could be but he also showed some flashes of Mojo syndrome. As for the others there is no urge or their shots are weak. They don't have that drive. Get a few selfish guys. Get guys who want the puck on their sticks and want to take the shot when it counts.

Kuzy was 2nd in goals and 2nd in shots on goal. His game is outskating defenses. Backstrom lead the team in goals. They both shoot enough. In some cases they could shoot more, but they are shooting plenty.

Burakovsky has proven to fall victim to long scoring draughts. You can add to the broken hand. He really did very little after returning from the hand.

 

[PB12]

Kuzy was 2nd in goals and 2nd in shots on goal. His game is outskating defenses. Backstrom lead the team in goals. They both shoot enough. In some cases they could shoot more, but they are shooting plenty.

Burakovsky has proven to fall victim to long scoring draughts. You can add to the broken hand. He really did very little after returning from the hand.

Forgot Backy. He steped up. Kuzy needs to learn that stuff you did in the regular season will not always work in the playoffs.

 

[twabby]

Kuznetsov was very good in the playoffs. Not really sure what you're talking about. What he did worked. He wasn't perfect, but his performance was probably the least concerning thing on the team this postseason.

 

[PB12]

Kuznetsov was very good in the playoffs. Not really sure what you're talking about. What he did worked. He wasn't perfect, but his performance was probably the least concerning thing on the team this postseason.

Kuzy was decent. Stat wise was good, but still has a lot to learn. For example he needs to take more chances when the team is in a non elimination situation. I also think he goes behind the net too much. He needs to understand that the dangles and stick handling he does in regular season will not always work in the playoffs. And finally of you see an open net open net, then take a shot. He improved on that later in the playoffs but its still a work in progress. He needs confidence. You see twabby stats are nice, but what does that players game look like. Remember how nice Jeff Schultz's +/- looked. Kuzy was good but there is still a need for improvement

 

[twabby]

Not saying Kuznetsov doesn't have room to improve but his line consistently created dangerous chances while doing a pretty good job of nullifying the opponents in the playoffs. Given his age I'm just not sure Kuznetsov is a concern at this point. Fine tune his game and he's a star.

 

[Hivemind]

The 2nd line was by far the most consistent at generating high danger chances. They were probably slightly ahead of the rest of the team in passing up medium grade chances.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Kuzy makes dumb mistakes still, but that's part of maturing. If he performed last playoffs like he did this year, we would have advanced. I had no issues with him this playoff run honestly. Sure more production would be great...


In fact, the two players that the playoffs mattered most for in a Caps uni, 92 and 9 actually played better than expected in my eyes.

 

[artilector]

With regards to developing offensive forwards, here's what Preds fans are saying about Trotz right now:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2346621

And when it comes down to it, the only specific example cited was Forsberg, which I already addressed. As for Arvidsson, there are also Nashville fans who say he's exactly the type of guy that would thrive under Trotz.

So again, when it comes down to it, I'm not sure even Nashville fans can give examples of young players whose offensive development was "screwed up" by Trotz.

Meanwhile, I got one positive example -- Radulov.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Hivemind]

And when it comes down to it, the only specific example cited was Forsberg, which I already addressed. As for Arvidsson, there are also Nashville fans who say he's exactly the type of guy that would thrive under Trotz.

So again, when it comes down to it, I'm not sure even Nashville fans can give examples of young players whose offensive development was "screwed up" by Trotz.

Meanwhile, I got one positive example -- Radulov.

If you bothered to click on the thread link, you'll see them naming Colin Wilson and David Legwand as players that Trotz limited.

You're "positive example" is blatantly ignoring that Radulov spent four years in the KHL and how Radulov's subsequent return to Nashville ended.


But, yes, continue pretending that you know more about the Predators than Predators fans do and that 80% of Trotz's NHL career doesn't matter.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I'd love to hear how Trotz specifically "limited" these players. Vague speculation doesn't do it for me.

We all know the types of guys Poile gravitates toward in the offensive end. Steady, but low upside guys historically.


Also that thread is not largely one sided against Trotz from what I saw, briefly skimming through a few pages. Much more of the criticism is leveled at him not being a "playoff coach/not adjusting" rather than a bad developer of players.

 

[Calicaps]

Looking for answers?

 

[Langway]

Trying to earn that extension.

 

[g00n]

Looking for answers?

Getting to know his Caps team for next year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Continuing business as usual.....good game face if anything.

 

[artilector]

If you bothered to click on the thread link, you'll see them naming Colin Wilson and David Legwand as players that Trotz limited.

You're "positive example" is blatantly ignoring that Radulov spent four years in the KHL and how Radulov's subsequent return to Nashville ended.

But, yes, continue pretending that you know more about the Predators than Predators fans do and that 80% of Trotz's NHL career doesn't matter.

I am not pretending anything -- you are just mindlessly quoting "he said, she said" as "evidence". And yes, I think the perception of Nashville fans may be colored by the fact that they really had very limited homegrown offensive talent -- and some of their own fans acknowledge this.

I don't know much about Wilson, but Legwand never struck me as a guy with legit offensive talent. As for Radulov, you're out to lunch, because Radulov was already great in Nashville under Trotz before he went back to Russia for "additional development".

At most, you got questionable "evidence" of bad development under Trotz a long time ago in Nashville, and recent good (IMO) development under Trotz in Washington.

 

[Hivemind]

You're self expressed idea of near ideal development is Tom Wilson. So maybe our disagreement here is simply about standards. You accept mediocrity as good development. I don't.

 

[WcRoenick97]

We have to get rid of him. This Sens series is just further evidence. We lost to a Pens team with a banged up Crosby, no Daley or Letang, beat up forward group, and Fleury. PATHETIC.

 

[hockeyfan88]

I think the bolded is absolutely key, and part of the reason I think Trotz's time should be up.

He is a fine enough coach at developing an overall strategy for success over the course of a season where opponents can't gameplan for you. But when it comes to in-game and in-series adjustments Trotz seemingly has no answers or is way too slow to come up with answers. It took him 3 full games before adjusting to what Toronto was doing to the Capitals, and it took him 4 games against Pittsburgh. And in Game 7 when Pittsburgh made their counter-adjustments Trotz wasn't able to come up with any answers in-game which helped lead to a complete dud.

Japers Rink mentioned it and I couldn't agree more that Trotz and the Capitals always seem to chase playoff series rather than dictate it from the get go, save for maybe last season against the Flyers. It felt like Babcock had a gameplan going into Game 1 on how to attack the Capitals whereas Trotz didn't do any preparation and instead waited to see what Toronto would do. He should have known that 27-74 would be eaten alive by Matthews given their struggles in the regular season, he should have known Orpik would struggle against Toronto given his struggles against faster teams, and he should have known that Schmidt would be a better option.

They were lucky enough to get out of the Toronto series given the apparently lack of gameplanning for games 1-3 but they weren't as lucky against Pittsburgh. They should have known that Pittsburgh would try to play a rope-a-dope, shot-blocking type of game and countered that starting in Game 1 given that this is exactly how they played against Columbus but instead it took them several games to figure out how to counter it.

Trotz just seems slow to think on his feet, even if his overall vision is admirable. I think they need a more creative guy behind the bench and someone who's willing to experiment during the regular season when things aren't going absolutely perfectly. They need a guy who can gameplan for specific opponents, and I don't think Trotz is that guy.

I couldn't have said it better myself.