Since 2013-14, the Philadelphia Flyers have had six different bench bosses, four head coaches and two interim head coaches. For the 7th time in 10 seasons, the Flyers will have a new coach and he will be announced officially as the 23rd head coach in franchise history.
There are a myriad of names to choose from like John Tortorella, Jim Montgomery, Rick Tocchet, and even Rikard Gronborg. However, a new face has appeared on stage today as former New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz was just fired. Trotz has had an illustrious career behind the bench as he sits third place all-time in wins for a head coach, and let’s also not forget the Stanley Cup ring he owns after leading the Washington Capitals to their first championship in franchise history in 2017-18. The Flyers should throw all their previous plans out the window because Trotz should be options A, B, and C.
There’s obviously going to be a lot of steps involved and it’s going to be a lot more complicated then just throwing money at Trotz, but the Flyers need to do everything they can to try and lure the Winnipeg native to Philadelphia. Mike Yeo was relieved of his interim head coaching duties last week, the Flyers have had a plethora of different coaches over the last decade, and Chuck Fletcher needs to hit a home run to salvage his reputation and the reputation of the Flyers and that starts with the head coach. The Flyers don’t currently have an identity, they’ve been without one for a several years, and one way they can build one is from behind the bench with a name like Trotz.
Trotz’s head coaching career began after longtime Capitals general manager, David Poile, was hired to be the architect for the Nashville Predators. Poile brought Trotz over from Washington, where Trotz was working as a part-time scout and hired him as the team’s first head coach. He wound up spending 16 years and 15 seasons with the Predators from 1998-2014. He coached for 1,196 games, had a record of 557-479-60-100, a .533 winning percentage, lead his team to the playoffs seven times and got past the first round twice, but never truly tasted success. After a couple very lean years for the Predators, Trotz was let go by Poile as they eventually hired Peter Laviolette in his stead.
Nashville no longer wanted Trotz to be their coach, but they did want to keep him in their hockey operations department, however Trotz had other ideas. He was hired by the Washington Capitals almost six weeks later and was there for four years from 2014-15 to 2017-18. He had immediate success as he posted a 205-89-34 record for a gaudy .677 winning percentage. The third round alluded Trotz in Washington just as it had in Nashville, but on his fourth and final attempt he broke through and the Capitals ended up defeating the newly established Vegas Golden Knights in five games for the Stanley Cup. In a shocking turn of events after contract disputes, Trotz resigned only 11 days later.
Three days after being on the market, the New York Islanders hired the venerable head coach and just like the Capitals gig, he was there for four years from 2018-19 to 2021-22, all the while posting a .587 winning percentage. He was behind the bench for 288 games, had a 152-102-34 record, and led the Islanders to back to back berths in the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in consecutive attempts. This year, the Islanders struggled from opening puck drop as they won only five of their first 20 games. They finished on a stronger note but the Eastern Conference was divvied up between 8 really good teams and 8 bad teams for the majority of the season so the Islanders playoff hopes were dashed for awhile.
There were rumours about Trotz being let go but they truly only seemed like rumours because of how successful he’s been wherever he’s coached, also considering the fact that he was coming off back to back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals before this year. The Islanders are a team built on defense and that showed as they finished in the top 10 in goals against average but their putrid offense was 24th-best. So now that he’s back on the market, the hockey world is probably going insane at the moment. He’s a coach that every team would want and with a lot of teams looking for new coaches, the Flyers are going to find themselves in a bidding war, but a war they might not have a leg in.
Are the Flyers an attractive spot for a coaching gig? After the season they just had and even going back to 2020-21, the short answer would be no. However, Dave Scott and the Flyers have never been shy of throwing money at a head coach, especially since it doesn’t count against the salary cap, so with his “blank cheque” statement reverberating through a megaphone, the Flyers can contend for his services if money is at the top of his wish-list.
Talent-wise, the Flyers have Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis, and Carter Hart at the forefront. The only issue is that two of them were injured, one of them is opting against surgery and his timeline is still to be determined, and one is a very talented goaltender who hasn’t been able to puzzle the pieces together since his sophomore season.
They do have players like Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Cam Atkinson, and Kevin Hayes, however we don’t know the makeup of the team with Chuck Fletcher signalling big moves and changes upcoming. Perhaps giving Trotz some say in player and roster personnel could sway him as well, but it’s not all too common for a head coach to have such illustrious powers. Nevertheless, it’s still something that could put Philadelphia over the top and with all the question marks regarding the team as is, it might not be the worst thing in the world to have an outsider’s input on what needs to be done, changed, and made-over.
The Flyers have also struggled mightily in terms of their defensive game for years and Trotz is the perfect coach to get the Flyers to play a comfortable yet daunting form of defense. We witnessed that prowess in Nashville, he got the severely offensive-minded Capitals to buy in too, and the Islanders were a dream come true for a defensive-minded coach.
There are currently four vacant openings in the NHL, one being the Flyers, another being Trotz’s former employer on Long Island, the third being Trotz’s hometown Winnipeg Jets, and the fourth being the Detroit Red Wings. Right off the hop, the Flyers will be going toe-to-toe with Steve Yzerman’s Red Wings and even though they’re rebuilding and found themselves in and around the Flyers near the bottom of the standings this year, they could pose as a threat with the young attractive pieces they have to offer. However, with the Flyers yet to wave the white flag in terms of rebuilding, the re-tool aspect of Philadelphia might just be enough to warrant another consideration.
Chicago, Florida, and Montreal all currently still have their interim coaches on the book. For the Florida Panthers, they’re currently in the playoffs so they won’t be too preoccupied with their head coaching status and Trotz, and all signs point towards Andrew Brunnette being re-upped. As for Derek King, mum’s the word on Chicago’s front in terms of what they plan on doing with their coaching staff, let alone their roster and the makeup of their team. Dave Lowry in Winnipeg is most likely on thin ice and the Jets announced their head coaching spot it open, though King is in the running; but with Trotz being a hometown boy, that alone could be an attractive suitor for the veteran bench-boss. On top of the fact that the Jets have a very good team on paper, their lone issue is defense which is Trotz’ speciality. Martin St. Louis did as good a job with the Canadiens as you could’ve expected and all signs point towards him staying on board with Montreal in the process of a rebuild.
The whole league has essentially been put on notice but there are still some teams that could be interested in looking for a new coach: the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, and even the Vancouver Canucks, who have yet to warm up to the idea of extending Bruce Boudreau.
Barry Trotz is only 55 wins away from tying Joel Quenneville for second place all-time in victories for a head coach. With the disgraced Quenneville most likely not finding a job any time soon, Trotz should get there with relative ease over the next two seasons and the idea and the hope is that it will be behind the Flyers bench. Things have been very bleak for Philadelphia over the last few seasons on the ice but in terms of business, things have been booming. They’ve always been a reputable brand and one would hope that that still remains true when it comes to being able to snag the big fish.
Trotz is everything the Flyers need and can hope for in a head coach, he will shore up their biggest weakness which is their defense, he will be able to get the team to commit to his coaching style which has a very good track record of success, and I can’t imagine you’ll find someone as venerable, well respected, and experienced as Trotz on the market or just in general. On top of the fact that the Flyers are desperate for a big move, for big change, want to get the fans excited and involved again, and have very fat wallets; this is screaming Philadelphia from head to toe.
With so many teams surely vying for his interest, the Flyers need to shore up their talking points in an attempt to lure Trotz. In terms of attractiveness they just finished fourth-last, but that entails them to a very good draft pick, they have Carter Hart in net, some good pieces on the defensive side of the puck, a few offensive names that would make the coach think twice, and some good young talent that looks ready to crack the roster for a full season. If they can make a few trades to alleviate cap space, hiring Trotz could work on several different phases as free agents might be more interested in joining the Flyers because of their newly appointed head coach.
The Flyers have to essentially throw the kitchen sink at the guy, but money isn’t going to be a problem and that’s a good start. The roster, the makeup of the team, the trajectory they’re heading towards, and potentially giving the head coach some sway in personnel movement at least for this year could work in Philadelphia’s favour. An outsider’s perspective is exactly what this franchise needs.
