The Washington Capitals have hired Barry Trotz as their new head coach to start to 2014-15 NHL season. The team also announced that current assistant general manager Brian MacLellan has been promoted to general manager.

Coach Barry Trotz

The 51-year-old Dauphin, Manitoba, native was let go from his previous coaching position with the Nashville Predators after 15 straight seasons behind the team’s bench.

Over the course of those 15 seasons in the league, Trotz has put together a combined record of 557-479-60-100 in 1,196 total games coached.

“I am very excited to join the Washington Capitals and want to thank Ted Leonsis, Dick Patrick and Brian MacLellan for this opportunity,” said Trotz in a team release on the hiring. “This is a great organization with a strong foundation and a tremendous fan base. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and the quality front office staff this team has assembled.”

While he is best known for his demanding, defense-first style of play, Trotz has made it clear that he allows the players he is given to dictate the system in which the team’s personality is based upon. In Nashville, he explained that their strengths lied in net and on the back end, which is exactly why Trotz put the kind of defensive system in place that he did.

In Washington, this means that a defense-oriented style of play may not be the direction he chooses to go in. With the amount of highly-offensive players throughout the team’s roster, a more balanced form of attack and defend game is possible. Successfully securing Trotz was without a doubt the right move for the Capitals.

With Trotz signed to head up D.C.’s next campaign come October, Caps fans should expect nothing less than steady improvement as their new bench boss becomes more familiar with the team at his disposal.

When rumours broke about Trotz’s hiring over the weekend, some were concerned with the team hiring a coach before hiring a general manager. Ultimately, it did happen that there was a GM at the helm for this signing, and that GM is already familiar with the Capitals organization.

General Manager Brian MacLellan

MacLellan spent two season’s as the Capitals assistant general manager, after spending several years working with the team’s AHL-affiliate, the Hershey Bears. MacLellan spent 10 years in the NHL as a player, including winning the 1989 Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames.

On hiring MacLellan, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a release. “After conducting an extensive search for a general manager, we determined that Brian was the best candidate to help us reach our ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup. We have witnessed his abilities firsthand, and we have tremendous respect for how he manages people and situations. We feel he has relevant, in-depth knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of our franchise and will be forceful in addressing them. Brian always has displayed tremendous professionalism, passion and commitment to the Capitals. He has his own unique approach, and we are confident in his abilities to lead this organization to new heights.”

MacLellan stated that he is looking forward to assuming his new position.

“I am extremely honored and excited about the opportunity I have been given with the Capitals,” said MacLellan in a release. “Over the course of my career I have worked in acquiring the necessary skills to excel in this position. We have built a solid foundation, and I look forward to implementing my ideas to get us back to competing for the Stanley Cup. Also, it is a great pleasure to welcome Barry to Washington as the new head coach of the Capitals. Barry’s teams have always played with structure, discipline and intensity, and I look forward to him leading us to success for many years to come.”

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