On Monday morning, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello announced that he has relieved Barry Trotz from his duties as head coach of the New York Islanders.

Following the 2017-18 NHL season, the Islanders ownership moved on from the former leadership group as they fired head coach Doug Weight, who had taken over for Jack Capuano in the middle of the 2016-17 season, and general manager Garth Snow.

On May 22, 2018, the Islanders hired NHL Hall-of-Fame general manager Lou Lamoriello to take over the hockey operations for the New York Islanders in the midst of the John Tavares free-agency saga, and the hope was to try and re-sign him. Part of the way they attempted to keep him on Long Island was to hire a coach that was well-respected around the National Hockey League. The head coach that had just won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, Barry Trotz, was on an expiring contract and the Islanders agreed to a five-year contract on June 22, 2018 to be named the New York Islanders’ next head coach.

The expectations for the New York Islanders going into Trotz’s first season behind the bench were minimal as they had just lost their captain, John Tavares, to the Toronto Maple Leafs that offseason, but not only did the Islanders exceed expectations, but they were one of the NHL’s most fascinating stories, going from the team allowing the most goals in the NHL the year prior, to the top of the table in goals against, with Robin Lenher and Thomas Greiss winning the William M. Jennings Trophy.

Finishing second in the Metropolitan Division that year, the Islanders swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, only to be swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. That would not be the last time the Islanders went to the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Trotz, though.

Despite the next two seasons being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways, the Islanders were one of the league’s top teams when it came to fighting it out on the biggest stage. The 2020 playoff bubble resulted in the Islanders fighting hard through series with the Panthers, Capitals, and the Flyers before losing in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The year after saw more of the same, as after taking out the Penguins and Bruins in six games, they were defeated in seven games by the Lightning, who would go on to win their second-straight Stanley Cup.

The 2021-22 season was a tumultuous one for the Islanders, as they began the year with 13 consecutive road games while their new arena, UBS Arena, was getting the finishing touches. At the end of the road trip and flowing into the opening of UBS Arena for Islanders hockey, the team then was hit hard with COVID-19 as they were missing key players in the lineup for multi-game stretches. Between injuries, individual players having down years, COVID-19, the road trip, and a multitude of other reasons including Trotz taking a leave from the team for personal reasons, the Islanders were unable to reach the playoffs in what is now officially Trotz’s final year at the helm for the New York Islanders.

In his four years with the Islanders, Barry Trotz went 152-102-34 in four seasons, including a 28-21 playoff record.

SEF