Laviolette 'disappointed' by lack of playoff success with Capitals

Peter Laviolette doesn't know if the Washington Capitals would have brought him back as coach because he'd already decided that he would not return next season.

With his three-year contract expiring, Laviolette told general manager Brian MacLellan his decision during a meeting April 14, the day after the Capitals' season ended with a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.
"For me, the contract is up on June 30, and I knew that I wouldn't be back next year," Laviolette said Friday in his first comments since the season ended. "So, I just had a good conversation with Brian and expressed that to him."
The Capitals announced April 14 that they and Laviolette "agreed to mutually part ways" after not qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2013-14. Laviolette said the decision, "very well might have been," a mutual one.
"I can't speak to them or what they were going to do," Laviolette said. "That would be a question for them. I can only speak to my own thoughts."
MacLellan said April 16 he had planned to take time to speak with Laviolette and the players before deciding on Laviolette's future. But Laviolette had already up his mind that it was time to move on.
"Just at the end of the year when it was pushing down, my wife and I had some conversations as the season ended as to what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go," Laviolette said. "For us, the thought was just to go back to Florida (where his offseason home is)."
Washington was 115-78-27 in three seasons under Laviolette, including 35-37-10 this season to finish 12 points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Capitals qualified for the playoffs eight consecutive seasons before that, including Laviolette's first two seasons, but have not won a playoff series since their run to the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Laviolette took the Washington job in 2020 with the directive to get more playoff success out of its veteran core and expressed disappointment he wasn't able to do that.
"They're good guys, good players," Laviolette said. "They're a veteran team and we had some success, but not the ultimate success, certainly not playoff success."
Laviolette said coaching this season on an expiring contract was never a concern for him. He said he had one conversation with MacLellan about a possible extension last summer, but nothing after that.
"Whenever we needed to talk, we talked and the relationship was good," Laviolette said. "For me, I just think nothing changed on my end with regard to having a contract extension or not having a contract extension. My job was to go in and try and help this group get back to the playoffs and then to experience success in the playoffs."
Laviolette's final season with Washington was a challenging one with long-term injuries to key players such as forwards Nicklas Backstrom (hip resurfacing surgery) and Tom Wilson (ACL surgery), who each missed the first 42 games before Wilson sat out another seven after blocking a shot off his ankle Jan. 24. Defenseman John Carlson (skull fracture, severed temporal artery) missed 36 games after being struck in the head with a slap shot Dec. 23, and another six games earlier in the season (lower body).
Laviolette acknowledged losing a total of 440 man-games to injury was a factor in missing the playoffs, along with other absences for personal reasons and the Capitals trading away veterans before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline such as Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Erik Gustafsson, Marcus Johansson, and Lars Eller.
"But, again, I don't want that to be the focal point because we dealt with that in December and we were able to be, I think, playing that month of December as one of the better teams in the League," Laviolette said, referring to a 12-1-2 surge from Dec. 5-Jan. 5. "So, we still have a job and a responsibility regardless of what happens."
Laviolette would like to coach in the NHL again but said he didn't leave the Capitals so he could get a head start on landing his next job.
"I do want to coach again if somebody will have me, but I hadn't even thought about that," Laviolette said. "It was more that my term was up, my contract was up, and on June 30 I would be done here."
In 21 NHL seasons as a coach with the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and Capitals, Laviolette is 752-503-150 with 25 ties. The 58-year-old won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and is one of four coaches to reach the Stanley Cup Final with three different teams (Carolina 2006, Philadelphia 2010, Nashville 2017), along with Scotty Bowman, Dick Irvin and Mike Keenan.
Although Laviolette is eighth in NHL history in wins, he said climbing on that list is not motivation for him to coach again.
"I go to my Finals record and it's 1-2, and that bothers me," he said. "If you're talking personal, that bugs me, and I would like to at least like to even that up. I think way more about that. … That's what drives me and probably leads back to the earlier conversation just about [being] disappointed that I and we couldn't have done more to try to get further in the playoffs."