Courtesy: Chris Gordon
“…we’re probably better served at bringing in a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of voices, and empowering a new team, a new group of executives, and listening to them, and listening to what they would do, because all we want to do is win a Stanley Cup.” – Ted Leonsis, from an interview on 106.7 The Fan.
A “fresh set of eyes” indeed.
The Washington Capitals, as many of you already know, have finally decided upon their new GM and Head Coach. After weeks of speculation and anticipation, Capitals majority owner, Ted Leonsis introduced Brian MacLellan and Barry Trotz as the new GM and Coach, respectively.
Barry Trotz is one of the most respected coaches in the NHL, and I love that he’s coming to D.C. He started his career in the Capitals organization as a scout, then coached the Baltimore Skipjacks/Portland Pirates until he got a job coaching the Nashville Predators when they first entered the league 15 years ago. Trotz held that job until the end of this regular season when the Preds missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Nashville, however, was always a defense-first team, and they flourished under Trotz between 2003-04 to 2011-12, making the playoffs every year except for one season. Trotz never had a lot to work with, and only 12 players have ever broken the 60-point plateau in the 15 year history, but that’s mainly because Trotz never had a lot to work with and the team boasted one of the stingiest defenses in all the NHL. He was nominated twice for the Jack Adams award as best coach.
What does that mean for Ovechkin and the former high-powered-offense of the Capitals? Who knows? Trotz has never dealt with a player like Ovechkin. He had Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg in Nashville for a short time, and still those teams were successful. I’m not too worried about Trotz’s influence on the Capitals… yet. At this point, it’s about how the players react. I can’t see the Caps disposing of someone like Trotz like they have the last 5 coaches.
The only negative about this is that Trotz could never get his team over the elusive playoff hump and advance past the semi-finals, however the argument about him never having the scoring power or presence of an offensive threat can be made.
More on that later.
What I’m really interetsed in is MacLellan.
GMBM, as we’ll call him, was McPhee’s college roommate, but he also played 10 seasons in the NHL, winning a Cup in Calgary in 1989. He retired in 1992 then received an MBA and became an investment banker. He was hired by McPhee in 2000 as a part time scout for a fledgling administration in Washington. He climbed the ladder and became McPhee’s Assistant GM, taking on the BS work and travelling a lot with the team. In the past few years, GMBM has had input on McPhee’s decisions.
He’s an intelligent man, that is for sure. He knows the organization. He may not have necessarily agreed with all of McPhee’s decisions, but who is really to say. We don’t know much about MacLellan yet. He’s been the shadowy figure that no one ever really knew was there.
Is he the right man for the job? Who is to say? We don’t know anything yet.
But one thing bothered me in the press conference:
“He led off with some of the the things I have to do to be a better owner,” Leonsis said of MacLellan’s interview, praising his intellect and honesty throughout. “I thought that was very brave and very astute because you don’t want to hear things like that.”
Did you see it too?
MacLellan knew what to say to Leonsis. He knew what buttons to push. He knew exactly what answers to give to his boss.
So, I’ll ask again: Is he the right man for the job? Who is to say? We don’t anything yet.
All I know is that I’m questioning the sanity of the Capitals ownership, especially when their new hire says this about whether or not he is ready for the challenge of the GM position:
“I think I’m ready for it.”
You “think” you’re ready for it? You better hope to the Hockey Gods that you are GMBM.
The NHL Draft coming up in June will be an enormous test for the start MacLellan-era, as he will have to make some moves and bolster the shaky defense of the Washington Capitals. He will also have to look to re-sign Mikhail Grabovski. Grabo’s showing at the Worlds is more then enough proof that they need him back in the lineup, especially under Trotz.
I can’t make an opinion until I give him some time to make a name for himself. It is, however, hard not to see that we are still living in the McPhee-era. GMBM has made a few moves already when he was ‘interim GM’ when he traded Jaroslav Halak’s contract to the Islanders for a 4th round pick and signed Swedish prospect Christian Djoos – not terrible moves.
MacLellan will be a tough sell for Caps fans until he makes a splash via trade or free agent signing – then the over-analyzing can begin.
Time will tell, but so much for “fresh eyes”.
More to come…
