The Caps Have Fired Todd Reirden
That was QUICK. The Caps wasted no time firing head coach Todd Reirden after his second straight 1st round exit in the playoffs.
What stands out to me is Reirden went 89-46-16 as a head coach and underachieved. At no point during his 2 seasons behind the bench did it ever seem like he was prepared to be an NHL head coach, but shit, I could coach a team with Ovi, Backstrom, Carlson, SCCTW, etc to the playoffs every season too.
This was the only move, as the team has so much talent but showed no signs of life while being pummeled by Trotz and the Isles.
The popular choice for our new coach is Gerard Gallant, who led the Golden Knights to the finals in 2018, and was fired by them halfway through this season despite having a winning record. I'm sure Ted et al will look at all options, but Gallant's style would sure as hell be fun to watch in Washington.
Reirden will definitely land on his feet as an assistant somewhere. And who knows, maybe he'll eventually become a head coach elsewhere. I never in a million years thought Bruce Cassidy would become a good head coach after the egg he laid in Washington, he was legit the worst head coach we ever had, and now he's killing it in Boston. So you never know. But for now, this is the 1000% correct decision to move on.