Carbery the right fit for transition Caps are trying to make originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Capitals appointed Spencer Carbery as their new bench boss on Tuesday, ending a six-plus week search for a new head coach following the mutual parting with Peter Laviolette.
Although general manager Brian MacLellan’s quest to find a new person to lead the Capitals took some time, the organization ended up hiring one of the most sought-after coaches around the league in Carbery, a move that makes a ton of sense for both parties.
Three years ago, when MacLellan hired Laviolette to replace then-first-time coach Todd Reirden, the general manager wanted an experienced coach to lead an aging core headlined by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, among others.
But this past April, one day after parting with Laviolette, MacLellan made it clear the team was willing to hire a first-time head coach again. Ovechkin and Backstrom aren’t getting any younger; MacLellan has made it clear that getting younger across the roster is a priority. The organization and roster are each in a different place than they were three years ago.
“I think we’re more open. I think our group is changing,” MacLellan said on April 15 when asked about hiring a first-time coach again. “We’re trying to get younger. We brought in some younger players. It’s going to be different in that you want a coach that can work with young guys and we’re going to have a veteran group at the top that kind of needs a veteran coach. So it’s going to be a challenge to find the right guy for that. Probably a combination of what we’ve had would be the ideal candidate.”
From the moment MacLellan said those thoughts, it was clear Carbery was a candidate that fit what the Capitals were looking for.
Carbery, 41, has never been a head coach in the NHL, yet his rise through the coaching ranks in the sport this past decade caught the eye of several NHL teams. He’s one of just four bench bosses to win coach of the year in both the ECHL and AHL. His lone NHL coaching experience came the past two years in Toronto, where he orchestrated the best and second-best power play units in the league in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.
Carbery’s success running Toronto’s power play unit should certainly appeal to Ovechkin, who enters next season 72 goals short of tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record. Ovechkin, who already has the most power-play goals in NHL history, scored 14 times on the man advantage last season despite Washington having just the 16th-best power-play unit in the league. Ideally, Carbery’s system will maximize the number of chances Ovechkin will have to find the back of the net relative to recent seasons.
MacLellan said in April he planned to keep Ovechkin “informed what the strategy is and what we’re thinking” regarding the hiring process, so it’s likely the two had conversations about Carbery. While MacLellan made it clear Ovechkin didn’t have the final decision on the team’s next bench boss, considering the GM’s comments, it’s hard to imagine he would have moved forward with the hire without No. 8’s approval.
The Capitals didn’t hire Carbery just because of the success he had in Toronto, though. The two parties were already plenty familiar with each other — Carbery previously served as the head coach for both of the Capitals’ ECHL and AHL affiliates in South Carolina and Hershey.
From 2018-2021, Carbery was the bench boss for the Hershey Bears and had a ton of success, posting a .658-point percentage across three seasons. But perhaps more importantly, Carbery coached six players in Hershey who appeared in at least one game for the Capitals this past season, including Connor McMichael and Martin Fehervary.
Integrating younger players into the Capitals’ lineup will likely be a top task for Carbery moving forward, especially considering MacLellan’s desire to fill the roster around the aging core with younger players. Carbery’s familiarity with several of the team’s top prospects should certainly help that process move smoother than other candidates that had no previous ties to the organization.
How well Carbery is able to gain the respect of the team’s veteran core while integrating young players into the lineup will likely determine his success in the nation’s capital. The team has promised Ovechkin they’ll continue to try and contend for the remainder of his contract while he chases Gretzky’s record, but Washington missed out on the postseason this spring for the first time in nine years. Getting back to playing meaningful hockey in May and beyond is a priority for Carbery — immediately.
The Capitals still have to fill a couple of spots on Carbery’s coaching staff. It would make sense if they were to add a pair of veteran coaches to balance Carbery being a first-time NHL head coach, something MacLellan said in April could happen. It’s worth noting that Scott Allen, one of Washington’s assistants that was retained this offseason, was part of Carbery’s staff in Hershey, so there’s already some familiarity there.
It’s no secret that Carbery enters a situation that will require some challenges and tough decisions. However, it’s hard to imagine there’s anyone fitter for the job than him.