Here's something you don't hear often from a fired coach: Barry Trotz, now with the Washington Capitals, ex- of the Nashville Predators, is glad that his boss, David Poile, issued him a pink slip last summer.

The dismissal, as the first and only coach in Predators' history, gave Trotz a chance to seek out a new opportunity and the Nashville players a chance to hear a fresh voice. Trotz is succeeding with his new team – points in 17 of the last 18 games to move into a playoff spot – and Peter Laviolette is succeeding with his old team, leading them to first overall in the NHL, on a percentage basis.

So what's not to like about the shuffle?

Story continues below advertisement

Trotz, who returns to Nashville for time Friday after spending 15 years behind the Predators' bench, admitted as much this week: That the upheaval caused by losing his first NHL job this past summer has turned into a win-win for both franchises.

"At first, you think you might be jealous because they got off to such a good start after all the moves they made – and they've got a healthy Pekka Rinne – but it's a fresh start for me; it's good for me, I'm re-invigorated if you will," said Trotz. "It's good. It's good for Lavy. Lavy's done a fantastic job. Players have bought in – and it's been refreshing for me. I'm living in a different town. had the best job in the world in Nashville. I was there 17 years in total. For a coach in this business, or in pro sports, to be anywhere that long is the best job in the world because your family's grown up there and you've found a home.

"But to me, it was time – and I'm glad David made the move. It was time for a new face in Nashville and a new challenge for myself as well."

After missing the playoffs last year for the first time in six years, the Capitals have gone on a tear lately, as they've adjusted to Trotz's methods and system. They've earned a point in 17 of their last 18 games (13-1-5) and have outscored opponents 56-35 during that span.

The Capitals are the only team in the NHL with six players with 10 or more goals (Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson and Joel Ward), but the biggest turnaround is in their defensive awareness. Washington is in the top third of NHL teams defensively and has sliced a third-of-a-goal off per game.

According to Trotz, a lot of the things he's tried to do in changing the culture around the Capitals are "really Pred-like in a lot of ways. We always did things in a first-class way and had a family atmosphere. I've taken a lot of the stuff we built in Nashville and brought it to Washington, but there's still room for growth. I hired a little different coaching staff. I added Todd Reirden (from Pittsburgh) and retained Blaine Forsythe who's been running the Caps PP for a number of years.

"Hopefully, with the adding some new staff, you get new and fresh ideas and you try to take what you like and what you've done in the past and what they suggest and we've sort of created a hybrid of Washington-Nashville and Pittsburgh."

Story continues below advertisement

Trotz's adult children stayed behind in Nashville, but ultimately, he hopes his greatest lasting contribution was to help create a hockey culture in a city that didn't have one to speak of before he and the Predators arrived. The Predators made the playoffs seven times in the last 10 years, the most successful record of the four teams that entered the NHL in the last expansion wave.

"We had to have some degree of success to be successful in a non-traditional market, especially in a southern market," said Trotz. "You look around the National Hockey League, there are a lot of markets that don't draw well, or didn't make the playoffs in forever. We set the bar in terms of game ops and a lot of things that are pretty standard around the league now.

"If I have any legacy in Nashville, it won't be the wins and the losses. It will hopefully be to be a stabilizing force for the NHL and a hockey franchise in a very non-traditional market … so I can maybe go to a hockey game with my grandkids 10 years from now in Nashville, Tennessee, in a non-traditional market, and say we had some success there."