The Washington Capitals solidified their front office and coaching positions on Monday, with assistant general manager Brian MacLellan promoted to the GMs office and former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz taking over behind the bench. MacLellan is entering his third season with the club, spending the last two as assistant general manager after spending several years with the teams AHL-affiliate Hershey Bears. MacLellan spent 10 years in the NHL as a player, including winning the 1989 Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames. He becomes the sixth GM in team history. "We are extremely pleased to name Brian MacLellan the teams general manager and welcome Barry Trotz to Washington as the Capitals coach,” said owner Ted Leonsis in a release. “After conducting an extensive search for a general manager, we determined that Brian was the best candidate to help us reach our ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup. We have witnessed his abilities firsthand, and we have tremendous respect for how he manages people and situations. We feel he has relevant, in-depth knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of our franchise and will be forceful in addressing them. Brian always has displayed tremendous professionalism, passion and commitment to the Capitals. He has his own unique approach, and we are confident in his abilities to lead this organization to new heights." McLellan is also looking forward to assuming his new position. “I am extremely honored and excited about the opportunity I have been given with the Capitals,” said MacLellan in a release. “Over the course of my career I have worked in acquiring the necessary skills to excel in this position. We have built a solid foundation, and I look forward to implementing my ideas to get us back to competing for the Stanley Cup. Also, it is a great pleasure to welcome Barry to Washington as the new head coach of the Capitals. Barrys teams have always played with structure, discipline and intensity, and I look forward to him leading us to success for many years to come.” Trotz was fired by the Nashville Predators at the end of the season after 16 years as the only head coach in franchise history. Trotz coached 1,196 games with Nashville, second only to Gregg Popovich of the NBAs San Antonio Spurs for longest active coaching tenure in the four major sports. Trotz says he welcomes his new challenge. “I am very excited to join the Washington Capitals and want to thank Ted Leonsis, Dick Patrick and Brian MacLellan for this opportunity,” said Trotz in the release. “This is a great organization with a strong foundation and a tremendous fan base. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and the quality front office staff this team has assembled.” Trotz is the only NHL coach to make the playoffs with the same team in seven of eight seasons between 2003-04 and 2011-12 and becomes the Capitals 17th head coach. The Capitals fired head coach Adam Oates and did not renew the contract of general manager George McPhee at the end of the season after the team missed the playoffs with a record of 38-30-14. Slater Koekkoek Jersey . In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. 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Hernandezs contract provided for him to receive that amount if he participated in 90 per cent of the teams voluntary off-season workouts. "On behalf of all players, it is our responsibility to protect the rights in the collective bargaining agreement," the union said in a statement. "We are not tone-deaf to what the allegations are in this case, but for the benefit of all players, there are important precedents here we must protect." The Patriots cut Hernandez after he was arrested on June 26 and before he was charged with murder later that day. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a friend whose body was found June 17 near Hernandezs house. The union believes Hernandez earned the bonus before his arrest. Patriots owner Robert Kraft indicated he disagreed. "Its simple," he said Tuesday. "You can look at our history. We honour all our contracts and we expect the people who sign them to honour their part of the contract." Asked if he felt Hernandez didnt do that, Kraft said, "We honour our contracts and we expect the people on the other side to do the same." Last year, Hernandez signed a five-year, $40 million contract extension through the 2018 season. The contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, includes an $82,000 bonus if Hernandez "successfully completes" at least 90 per cent the possible off-season workouts at the teams facility. The bonus would have been paid "on or about" Aug. 1. The NFLs collective bargaining agreement allows teams to recoup bonus money when a pplayer is incarcerated.dddddddddddd The Patriots cut Hernandez before the bonus, if earned, was due. Hernandez was indicted last Thursday on first-degree murder and weapons charges in the death of Lloyd, whose bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park about a mile from the ex-players North Attleborough, Mass., home. Prosecutors say Hernandez orchestrated Lloyds killing because he was upset at him for talking to people Hernandez had problems with at a nightclub days earlier. Kraft said that since he bought the Patriots before the 1994 season, "weve had probably over 2,000 people playing here and I think, by and large, weve done a pretty good job. If you look at the last four years I dont think we had any off-field incidents. So were as diligent as we can be. "We know what we want to achieve, yet, when people go outside this building, its like those of you who have children," Kraft told reporters. "Once they get to a certain age, you cant control all their activities." He also said that "every year in all of our businesses, we recalibrate what we are doing to make sure were staying fresh and on top of things, and once you stop doing that, youll perish." The NFL, Kraft said, is "the most competitive business Ive ever been involved in and so we have reviewed everything. Weve been very diligent (in) the way we look at things and well try to do things as best as we can to achieve the results we want." The Patriots are "a microcosm of the world," he said. "All kinds of things are going to happen. We do our best to hope that (players) understand theyre in a unique place. Playing in the NFL is a privilege and we hope theyre wise and mature enough to make sure they know how to take advantage of that." ' ' '