The Washington Capitals announced that they’ve signed former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant Spencer Carbery to a 4 year deal to become their new head coach.
Carbery now returns to the Capitals organization where he spent time as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears from 2018-2021. There, he helped the team earn a Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, awarded annually to the AHL’s regular season champion, and a coach of the year award in 2021.
Later that summer he joined Sheldon Keefe’s staff in Toronto where he helped guide the team’s power play to the 2nd best unit in the league in 2022-23. The 41 year old replaces former bench boss Peter Laviolette who was let go after the Capitals missed out on the postseason for the 1st time in a decade.
In 8 years at the pro level, only once has a Carbery led team finished below .500. This bodes well for Washington as owner Ted Leonsis had previously promised that the team will continue to field competitive rosters for as long as Alexander Ovechkin is with the club.
“We are extremely pleased to name Spencer as our new head coach,” said Capitals GM Brian MacLellan. “Spencer is one of the best young coaches in the game who’s had success at every level at which he has coached. We feel his leadership, communication skills, ability to develop players and familiarity with our organization will be a tremendous asset as he makes this next step in his coaching career.”
Carbery becomes the 20th head coach in franchise history for the Caps after beginning his career as an ECHL player and coach with the South Carolina Stingrays, Washington’s ECHL affiliate. The hope is that his offensive expertise will help turn around a team that struggled down the stretch last season, finishing with a disappointing 35-37-10 record.
“It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the Washington Capitals,” said Carbery. “I would like to thank the Capitals organization for affording me the opportunity to lead this team. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and building upon the winning culture in place. I would also like to thank the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for all their support over the past two years and wish them all the best in the future.”
A press conference is scheduled for Thursday June 1st at 11am ET to formally introduce Carbery to the media.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.