As per a few reports on Sunday, the Washington Capitals have released head coach Todd Reirden from his job. The move comes after a disappointing end to the Capitals season, where the team was removed in the first round of the 2020 playoffs by the New York Islanders.
This was the second full season Reirden served as Washington’s head coach, finishing with an overall regular season record of 89-46-16. He took over the coaching duties for previous coach Barry Trotz.
The team, through general manager Brian MacLellan, released a statement Sunday:
“We have higher expectations for our team, and we felt a fresh approach in leadership was necessary. We would like to thank Todd for all of his hard work and efforts with our organization. Todd has been a big part of our team for more than half a decade, including our Stanley Cup run in 2018, and we wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”
After the Capitals were eliminated in Game 5, Reirden did seem to throw his team under the bus a little when he said they weren’t as prepared as they should have been. It turns out, the Capitals believed that was more an indictment of is abilities than the players. He said, “Looking back at our time here in Toronto, for whatever reason, our team wasn’t able to mentally or physically get to our game long enough… this is not acceptable for our organization.”
As a result, Reirden will now have to look for another job in a very flooded coaching market.
Reirden believes he’ll land on his feet. “I’m confident that I’m a young coach that continues to improve and continues to get better and have been able to find success in the regular season and haven’t been able to find it in two completely different circumstances in the playoffs,” he told media after the loss. He added, “I don’t have all the answers right now and it’s good to take some time away and look at it and dissect why it happened.”
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