BREAKING: Capitals Hiring Peter Laviolette as 19th Head Coach

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals are reportedly hiring veteran NHL coach Peter Laviolette to replace Todd Reirden as their next head coach.

Laviolette has coached multiple teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs taking home Lord Stanley’s Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. Laviolette has reached the Stanley Cup Finals with a total of three teams, as he also coached the Philadelphia Flyers (2010) and the Nashville Predators (2017) to the conference championships. He has 10 playoff appearances in 14 seasons (not including 3 years he was fired midseason) and has won coached 637 career wins.

BREAKING CAPITALS NEWS: The Caps reportedly are hiring veteran NHL head coach Peter Laviolette as their head coach. Led the Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup title and the Flyers and Predators to conference championships. #Caps #ALLCAPS

— The Team 980 & 95.9FM (@team980) September 15, 2020

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Laviolette most recently spent the past six seasons in Nashville where he succeeded former Caps head coach Barry Trotz as only the 2nd head coaching Predators history. He was let go on January 6, 2020 despite 5 straight playoff appearances in his only 5 season there, including back to back division titles.

Laviolette again follows in Trotz’ footsteps, replacing Todd Reirden (Trotz’ Washington successor) as the 19th head coach in Capitals history. His 18 seasons at the helm of NHL teams fits Washington general manager Brian MacLellan’s emphasis on “experience” in their latest coaching search. “We need an experienced coach,” MacLellan has said of the coaching search. “We have an experienced group. We’re going to try and find the best guy we can; experience will be a factor. And somebody that can hold people accountable.”

MacLellan has also said Washington was “open to spending top dollar” on their next head coach “if it makes sense.” Apparently, in this case it made sense, because Laviolette’s new deals is reportedly for 3 years at $4 million/year. Caps fans may remember that $4 million a year over 5 years is the amount that they refused to pay Barry Trotz before he left for New York for that same price tag. Washington seems to have learned its lesson when it comes to going cheer when it comes to head coaching after their experience with Todd Reirden’s discounted price tag.

BREAKING: Washington Capitals hire Peter Laviolette as their new head coach on a three-year contract worth over $4M per year. #ALLCAPS

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) September 15, 2020

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MacLellan and the Capitals seem to have gotten their man in Laviolette, time will tell if he has what it takes to follow Trotz once again and bring Washington, along with Alex Ovechkin & company, their 2nd Stanley Cup title.

BREAKING: Capitals Hiring Peter Laviolette as 19th Head Coach  was originally published on theteam980.com