With the Detroit Red Wings needing a new head coach after general manager Steve Yzerman elected not to retain the services of Jeff Blashill, speculation immediately began to abound as to who his next hire would be. Not long after the 2021-22 NHL Season ended, the New York Islanders stunned many in the hockey world by jettisoning veteran coach Barry Trotz, who was almost immediately named by fans and pundits as a potential candidate.
However, Trotz has announced today that he won’t be returning to coaching just yet and even formally turned down the vacancy from the Winnipeg Jets.
In his words, he’s going to be taking this time to be focusing on his family.
“I’ve got some things personally that I’ve got to take care of, family-wise that I’ve got to take care of,” Trotz said Friday. “I didn’t feel… if I’d said I’ll take the job, I think I would have done any team a little bit of a disservice and myself a disservice because to be a coach in the NHL, it is demanding and it requires your all. It just does, emotionally it just does, mentally it just does. So I couldn’t go down that path.
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Barry Trotz won’t be coaching in 2022-23
“It doesn’t mean I’m not going to coach. Just not going to coach right now. I’ve been doing this for 25 straight years and I’ve put a lot of stuff on the back burner and I think it’s time. The one thing I do know, and it’s a mistake that everybody makes, is you think you have time and you don’t. And so this is my time when I can get to a lot of things I’ve put on the back burner. I have to take care of those, for peace of mind for everything so I will be 100 percent in if I get back into it and I’ll be a better coach for it.”
With Trotz’s name off the list, we’ll keep our eyes peeled on what Yzerman’s next move is.
