REPORT: Barry Trotz REVEALS how he made Ovechkin a more COMPLETE two-way player

Oates is credited with reviving the career of Alex Ovechkin after Ovi had back to back years of scoring 38 or less goals and it looked like his love for the game had been gone. Under Oates, he won back-to-back Rocket Richard trophies, scoring 32 goals in 48 games and 51 goals in 78 games, but the only problem was, in the second season under Oates, not only did they miss the playoffs, but Ovechkin had a -35 rating, despite scoring his 50 goals.

Trotz is a very defensive minded coach, and when he took over the team, many media members did not believe these two were going to mesh, but under Trotz, Ovechkin scored back-to-back 50+ goal seasons and had a 49 goal season, while also winning a Stanley Cup.

Many didn't believe it could happen, but Ovechkin bought into the team system that Trotz was trying to preach. Check out below how Trotz made that happen:

Could Barry Trotz have same impact on Matthews and Marner as he did on OVi? I'm kidding Leafs fans! Kind of 😂. Great conversation with Trotz, have a listen 👇👇👇 ⁦@CamandStrick⁩ pic.twitter.com/YE1AUjuaFZ— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) October 25, 2022