Barry Trotz resigning after winning Stanley Cup is shocking

NHL: Washington Capitals-Stanley Cup Championship Parade

The Washington Capitals just won their first title in 44 years, but they’ll be without a big piece of their club going forward.

Head coach Barry Trotz, who had been discussing a potential contract extension, will not be returning with the team. His contract was set to run out on June 30, but Trotz wasn’t interested in waiting until that time.

Instead — in news that came as a shock to many — Trotz announced his resignation on Monday, in a statement released through the team.

It reads:

Barry Trotz informed the organization today of his decision to resign as head coach of the Washington Capitals. We are obviously disappointed by Barry’s decision, but would like to thank Barry for all his efforts the past four years and for helping bring the Stanley Cup to Washington. Barry is a man of high character and integrity and we are grateful for his leadership and for all that he has done for our franchise.

It’s likely that Trotz was planning to move on, and he wanted to begin negotiating with other teams.

However, it’s also possible that Trotz was sending a message about ownership by resigning, although we’ll probably never really know what the truth was. It’s all speculation at this point.

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