After being named Captain of the 2018-2019 New York Islanders, it was no secret that Anders Lee’s numbers took a bit of a dive this past year. Some of this can be attributed to no longer playing on a top line featuring John Tavares, and some of this can be chalked up to Barry Trotz’s more defensive approach to the game.
The question becomes, it seems, how Trotz’s style of game highlighted the loss of Tavares and whether Lee’s regression had more to do with his own play or his linemates.
Possibly the easiest way to conjecture the effect of a Trotz coaching scheme on a team would be to analyze the 2014 Capitals.