The Most Interesting Cases of Familiar NHL Faces in New Places

NHL training camps are underway, and with preseason games set to begin this Sunday, it is a great time to refresh. This summer featured a number of familiar faces who moved around the league, and it will be intriguing to see how situations like Barry Trotz behind the Washington Capitals bench pans out.

Trotz was a fixture in Nashville, and heading to the United States' capital will present some interesting new challenges.

There were a number of other moves, and if you got past the gratuitous alliteration in the headline, here are the most interesting scenarios involving familiar faces in new places.

Ryan Miller

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The New Home: Vancouver Canucks

The Old Home: Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues (Honeymoon gone wrong)

Ryan Miller was an icon in Buffalo, and he was finally set free during the NHL trade deadline. Well, not exactly. When Miller showed up in St. Louis, it was assumed that he would shine with a team that had an established blue line.

The opposite proved to be true during the playoffs, and an implosion against the Chicago Blackhawks could be described as a honeymoon gone badly. Miller hit the open market and decided to take his talents to the Vancouver Canucks.

The move is interesting because Miller will enter the situation as the starter, but there are no guarantees that he remains in that role. While it appears that he will be given the job for the majority of the time, Eddie Lack is going to be very motivated to prove himself.

The big question that makes this move additionally interesting is: Which Miller will report to camp? Will it be the suffering servant who made the best of a bad situation over the past few years in Buffalo or the guy who ended St. Louis' Stanley Cup dreams before they even started?

Only time will tell, but all eyes will be on Miller early on in 2014-15.

Barry Trotz

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The New Home: Washington Capitals

The Old Home: Nashville Predators

Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators. Nashville Predators, Barry Trotz. The two were synonymous with each other for 15 seasons, as Trotz was the only bench boss in the franchise's history since Nashville entered the league in 1998.

Trotz enters this season in unfamiliar territory, and life in Washington will be drastically different than it was in Nashville. In Washington, Trotz will be in control of one of the NHL's top goal scorers, Alex Ovechkin, and it will be interesting to see what approach he takes.

Defense has been a major tenet of Trotz's coach philosophy, but will he let Ovechkin be the goal scorer he is, or will he take the Dale Hunter route and force him to be competent in his own zone? No matter what tactic he employs, Trotz will draw the ire of critics if the Caps don't get off to a hot start.

Brad Richards

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The New Home: Chicago Blackhawks

The Old Home: New York Rangers

Brad Richards has been one of the highest-paid players during the salary-cap era, and this season he will be paired with one of the richest players in the new salary-cap era.

According to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun Times, Richards will be paired with Patrick Kane—the $10.5 million man come next season—to start the season, and Brandon Saad will flank him on the other wing.

Richards was exiled from the Big Apple because of his albatross of a contract and the potential cap-recapture ramifications associated with it. In New York, Richards was a leader in the locker room, and he was expected to be a leader on the ice offensively.

You could say that he didn't live up to the offensive expectations based on his production in Dallas, but the Rangers are, and will forever be, better off having Richards off of their payroll.

At 34, Richards is no longer the spry, creative forward who won the hearts of fans in Tampa Bay, but he is a still a darn good hockey player. Seeing how Richards produces in a climate where he won't have to be the guy will be interesting, and he could prove to be one of the biggest bargains from the free-agency period this summer.

Patric Hornqvist

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The New Home: Pittsburgh Penguins

The Old Home: Nashville Predators

Patric Hornqvist has averaged 24 goals a season throughout his NHL career in spite of playing with no major center of notoriety. No offense to David Legwand intended, but the newest member of the Penguins' top six was forced to do a lot of heavy lifting by himself in Nashville.

The 27-year-old Swede enters the upcoming season with a chance to take his game to the next level, because he will be paired with one of the world's best centers. He could be paired with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, and he would be in paradise in either scenario.

Watching Hornqvist adjust to prime time will be entertaining, and it will be interesting to see if he becomes a 30- or 40-goal scorer in 2014-15. He's made the best of a less-than-ideal situation over the last few years, so watching him get to experiment in a high-octane offensive system should be fun.

Mike Johnston

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New Home: Pittsburgh Penguins

Old Home: Portland Winterhawks of WHL

Mike Johnston was an associate coach and assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings going back a few years, but he had been with the Portland Winterhawks since 2008 in a coaching and general manager position.

Portland has been a hockey powerhouse that has churned out current NHLers such as Seth Jones, Ryan Johansen, Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Hossa, but Johnston will be in for a whole new challenge in the Steel City.

The Pens' bench general will have two of the greatest players in the world at his disposal, and there will be a ton of pressure on his shoulders. If the Penguins don't win the Stanley Cup this season, Johnston could be a one-and-done coach, because Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings is set to become a free agent this summer.

Seeing how Johnston reacclimatizes to NHL life will be a prominent storyline early on, but it will be business as usual if the Penguins buckle down and play their game.

Peter Laviolette

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The New Home: Nashville Predators

The Old Home: Philadelphia Flyers

Peter Laviolette was unceremoniously canned three games into the 2013-14 season. He landed on his feet as an analyst with the NHL Network, but you could tell that it would be a limited stint.

Coaching runs deep with Laviolette, the bench boss of the 2005-06 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, and during HBO's 24/7 series, fans got an up-close look at his passion when it comes to coaching.

The challenge for Laviolette will be drawing blood from a stone, a metaphor for trying to extract offense from a very tepid Predators squad. In the past, Laviolette has done a good job getting something out of nothing, and it goes without saying that he will try and mentor the many prospects that Nashville employs.

General manager David Poile expects the same, and he expressed his confidence when Laviolette was introduced.

Via the Predators' official press release:

"

Having reached the peak as a Stanley Cup Champion, Peter knows the intensity and urgency it will take to help our team reach its ultimate goal. He is a great hockey mind who not only has a winning resume, but has done it with an aggressive offensive philosophy while also excelling in helping young players reach their potential. 

"

Laviolette is a good coach and a smart hockey man, so watching him acclimate to a new situation will be very enjoyable this season.

Jason Spezza

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The New Home: Dallas Stars

The Old Home: Ottawa Senators

The dealing of Jason Spezza to the Dallas Stars on free-agent day 2014 was very shocking. The former captain of the Senators has the final year of his contract sliding to the Stars' balance sheet, and this is going to be a show-me year for Spezza.

Back issues have ailed the former pivot of the famous "Ca$h line," and his performance in 2014-15 will dictate his fate for July 1, 2015. If he plays well in a tougher and more physical Western Conference, there's a good chance that his Stars sweater won't be the only green in his future.

If not, Spezza will hit the market, and he will end up on his third team in three years. Spezza will be with a familiar face in Dallas, as general manager Jim Nill also inked Ales Hemsky to a contract over the offseason. It remains to be seen if the duo's chemistry from Ottawa will continue, as the pairing will be closely observed early on in 2014-15.

Ryan Kesler

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The New Home: Anaheim Ducks

The Old Home: Vancouver Canucks

After spending the first 10 seasons of his career with the Vancouver Canucks, Ryan Kesler is headed south of the Canadian border. Vancouver was unable to deal him before the trade deadline, but the Canucks finally moved him in June.

His new home will be on a team that has a greater chance to do damage in the playoffs, but what can fans expect of Kesler?

Kesler may be coming off three down years with the Vancouver Canucks, but he stands to improve in a lineup in which he won’t have to be the primary guy. He will be center No. 2 behind Ryan Getzlaf, and that should help lessen the burden on his shoulders.

The Ducks have coveted a capable No. 2 center for years, and watching Kesler fill that role will certainly be a topic of interest for fans early on in the season.

Jussi Jokinen

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The New Home: Florida Panthers

The Old Home: Pittsburgh Penguins

Jussi Jokinen had a resurgent season in Pittsburgh, and it was his best campaign since recording 65 points in 2009-10 with the Carolina Hurricanes. The fancy Finn decided to head back south, and he will be on a team that could be on an upswing.

Gerard Gallant is the new man in charge behind the bench, and he will likely put Jokinen in a position to contribute with some talented youngsters in the top six. This will be an interesting move, because it remains to be seen if Jokinen will be as productive without Evgeni Malkin.

Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov are good young pivots, but will they be talented enough distributors for Jokinen to fill the net with goals?