Less than two weeks after lifting the Stanley Cup Youth Matthew Tkachuk Jersey , Barry Trotz is a free agent and the Washington Capitals are looking for a new coach.Trotz stepped down as Capitals coach on Monday after a contract dispute over salary and term that leaves the newly minted Stanley Cup champions without a coach with the draft and free agency fast approaching. General manager Brian MacLellan said the Capitals accepted Trotz¡¯s resignation after they were unable to agree on terms on a new contract.Winning the Cup less than two weeks ago triggered a two-year extension for Trotz that would have given him a slight bump in salary to just over $2 million, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce the extension.¡±His representative wants to take advantage of Barry¡¯s experience and Stanley Cup win and was trying to negotiate a deal that compensates him as one of the better coaches in the league, top four or five coaches,¡± MacLellan said at a news conference in Arlington, Virginia. ¡±I think the five-year term is probably a sticking point. You have a coach that¡¯s been here four years, you do another five, that¡¯s nine years. There¡¯s not many coaches that have that lasting ability. It¡¯s a long time and it¡¯s a lot of money to be committing to a coach.¡±Toronto¡¯s Mike Babcock makes the most at $6.25 million on an eight-year deal after coaching Detroit for 10 seasons, Chicago¡¯s Joel Quenneville is next at $6 million entering his ninth full season with the Blackhawks and Montreal¡¯s Claude Julien brings in $5 million after coaching Boston for nine-plus seasons. All three have won the Cup like Trotz, including Quenneville three times.If Trotz was paid among the top five, it would have put him in the $4 million-plus range annually ¨C a price the Capitals have not been willing to pay for coaches.¡±After careful consideration and consultation with my family, I am officially announcing my resignation,¡± Trotz said. ¡±When I came to Washington four years ago we had one goal in mind and that was to bring the Stanley Cup to the nation¡¯s capital. We had an incredible run this season culminating with our players and staff achieving our goal and sharing the excitement with our fans.¡±The 55-year-old Trotz went into the season with an uncertain future after ownership and MacLellan declined to talk about a contract extension last summer after back-to-back Presidents¡¯ Trophy-winning seasons that ended with second-round exits.¡±We were struggling at the time to get over the hump,¡± MacLellan said. ¡±We couldn¡¯t get out of the second round and Barry hadn¡¯t been able to coach out of the second round yet either. I think from the organization¡¯s perspective Michael Frolik Jersey , some changes would¡¯ve had to be made if we lost in the second round again.¡±That didn¡¯t happen as a relaxed Trotz played a vital role in Washington¡¯s first title in franchise history. He survived a rough start to the season and other struggles before he and the team found a stride in the playoffs.As part of the uneasy arrangement, associate coach Todd Reirden ¨C who was not allowed to interview with other teams last summer ¨C remained on staff and was considered the coach-in-waiting. Reirden is now the leading candidate to take over for the defending champions, though MacLellan wants to go through an interview process with the former Pittsburgh assistant first.¡±Todd¡¯s a good candidate for it,¡± MacLellan said. ¡±We¡¯re going to start with Todd here, and we¡¯ve been grooming him to be a head coach whether for us or for someone else. We¡¯ll see how the talk goes with him and then we¡¯ll make a decision based on that. If it goes well, then we¡¯ll pursue Todd, and if it doesn¡¯t, we¡¯ll open it up a little bit.¡±After the Capitals accepted his resignation, Trotz will be an intriguing figure on the coaching market.Only the New York Islanders have a current coaching vacancy, though given Trotz¡¯s success in Nashville and Washington, other teams might consider making a move to hire him. Trotz has the fifth-most victories in NHL history and has guided a team to the playoffs in 11 of his 19 seasons. He is 762-568-60-134 overall with the Predators and Capitals, and he won 205 of his 328 regular-season games (63 percent) since taking over as Washington¡¯s coach in 2014.Trotz had his fingerprints all over this championship, pushing all the right buttons by putting goaltender Braden Holtby back in net early in the first round and making the correct lineup decisions throughout the playoffs. He was also a popular coach with his players Authentic Mikael Backlund Jersey , helping playoff hero Devante Smith-Pelly and others find their stride.¡±He changed this team with family mentality,¡± top-line winger Tom Wilson said last week. ¡±He did a really good job of creating that team atmosphere. You look three or four years back, there was a lot of skill on this team, but there wasn¡¯t really that team mentality and you can never take that away from what that did for this locker room.¡±Despite his contract situation, Trotz appeared relaxed throughout the postseason, even as Washington vanquished playoff nemesis Pittsburgh. After the Capitals trailed in all four series and came back to win the Stanley Cup, Trotz told fans at the victory parade last week: ¡±We¡¯re going to do it again!¡±Instead, Trotz is looking at the next stop in his career and the Capitals are looking for a new coach.¡ª TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Lightning, with a primary assist from a team that handled them during the regular season, are back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years.Thank you, Boston Bruins.¡±I guess I can say it now. Boston set the bar for us, and we played them three times late in the year Mike Smith Jersey ,¡± Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after his team¡¯s 3-1 victory over the Bruins ended their second-round playoff series in five games.¡±The first two times we played them, they literally manhandled us. ¡­ and we knew if we were going to go anywhere when we made the playoffs, or if we made the playoffs, that we had to be as good as Boston,¡± Cooper added.¡±We beat them 4-0 (in the last meeting). I think that gave us a little hit of confidence. I guess a lot of confidence. ¡­ and, ultimately we carried that through into this playoff round.¡±Brayden Point and J.T. Miller scored second-period goals and Anton Stralman added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining to end any chance for a Boston comeback.Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots ¨C 14 in the final period ¨C for the Lightning, who rebounded from losing the series opener at home to eliminate the Bruins in five games.Boston won three of the four games between the teams during the regular season, finishing one point behind Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division title and the No. 1 seed in the East.The Bruins outlasted Toronto in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs. They scored six goals to beat the Lightning in Game 1, but had difficulty scoring after that.Over the last three games, Boston failed to score an even-strength goal.¡±You¡¯ve got to give them credit. We¡¯re a team that scored all year long with different players in and out of the lineup,¡± Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.¡±We scored against Toronto, so it¡¯s not like after 89 games we forgot how to score or not play the right way,¡± Cassidy added. ¡±I think their D corps is big and they move the puck. They did a good job of not allowing us to get inside.¡±David Krejci scored on the power play in the final minute of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead that Point erased with his unassisted goal at 10:43 of the second.Miller¡¯s power-play goal broke the tie less than four minutes later Sean Monahan Jersey , and Stralman added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining.¡±They¡¯re a really good team. They have been all year,¡± Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. ¡±They compete extremely hard, they have a lot of speed. They were better than we were in a lot of areas, one of them being puck battles and their pursuit. It showed up in the end.¡±One day after being put ¡±on notice¡± by the NHL for licking Lightning forward Ryan Callahan during Friday night¡¯s overtime loss in Game 4, there were no more such incidents involving Marchand, who also made headlines after appearing to lick Toronto¡¯s Leo Komarov in the first round.Marchand was given an edict Saturday to stop licking opponents or subject himself to a possible fine or suspension for future incidents.Cassidy said before the game that he had spoken with Marchand, delivering a simple, straight-forward message: ¡±We need you on the ice, we need you playing. If part of his M.O. is to annoy people, find a different way to annoy them. Preferably by scoring some goals, that would be the best way.¡±Afterward, Marchand shrugged off a question about his discussion the previous day with NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell.¡±It is what it is,¡± Marchand said. ¡±I think it¡¯s pretty stupid TJ Brodie Jersey , the whole situation, but if that¡¯s what they want to do, it¡¯s what they want to do.¡±The Lightning once again did a good job of containing Boston¡¯s top line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Marchand. Although the trio combined for 23 points in the series (seven goals, 16 assists), about half that production (11 points) came in the Bruins¡¯ 6-2 win in Game 1.Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy assisted on Krejci¡¯s goal, but Vasilevskiy came up big against the high-scoring line with four huge saves ¨C one on Bergeron¡¯s point-blank shot ¨C in the closing minutes while Tampa Bay was killing off Boston¡¯s last power-play opportunity.The Bruins scored five goals over the final three games of the series, four of them on the power play and one short-handed.¡±You can¡¯t rely on special teams every night to win games,¡± Marchand said. ¡±They help for sure, but you have to be able to produce 5-on-5.¡±NOTES: Bruins RW David Backes left the ice after taking a hard hit from Miller with just under eight minutes remaining in the second period. He did not return. ¡­ The Lightning improved to 5-1 in Game 5s when holding a 3-1 series lead. ¡­ Boston played without D Torey Krug, who injured his left ankle during Game 4. Nick Holden took over Krug¡¯s spot, making his first appearance since Game 3 of Boston¡¯s opening-round series against Toronto.¡ª