Capitals' Trotz closing in on 700 career wins
When the Washington Capitals take the ice against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, they'll be playing for more than just a pair of points.
The Eastern Conference leader already has a playoff spot in the bag, but it's fair to assume they'll be pushing for a victory regardless, as doing so would allow head coach Barry Trotz to claim his 700th career win - and against the Predators no less, the team he led for the first 15 years of his career.
Trotz amassed 557 wins during his time as the Predators' head coach, helping the club reach the postseason on seven different occasions. But given a star-studded group in Washington a few years ago, the 54-year-old has found even greater success.
Since adding the new bench boss in 2014-15, the Capitals have been one of the most dominant clubs in the NHL, both in the standings and in the finer points of their game:
1) Since Trotz's arrival in Washington in 14/15, #Caps rank first in wins, points, goals against per game and power play percentage.
— Sergey Kocharov (@SergeyKocharov) February 25, 2017
Trotz has racked up 142 wins through 224 games in Washington, taking his career total to 699 ahead of Saturday's matchup.
The team's chances of raising its head coach to that plateau are pretty good - the Capitals have won eight of their last 10, though they haven't faced the Predators yet this season.
Trotz currently ranks sixth all-time in coaching wins, just 27 wins behind Lindy Ruff. Though, to be fair to the head coaches of decades past, Trotz also ranks sixth in career losses, and seventh in total games behind the bench.
Regardless, the veteran has established himself as one of the best in the business throughout his near two-decade career, and looks set to add to that legacy in the very near future.