Capitals hire Carbery as head coach

*Photo from TSN*

   We have a coaching announcement on our hands here. The Washington Capitals have named Spencer Carbery will be their next head coach, according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN. The team has officially confirmed the news.

   Carbery gets a 4 year contract with the Capitals, replacing Peter Laviolette after the Capitals and Laviolette parted ways at the end of the season. Carbery has previous experience in the Capitals organization, led the Capitals AHL affiliate Hershey Bears to the AHL's best regular season record in 2021, earning him coach of the year honors.

   Washington GM Brian McClellan said that "We are extremely pleased to name Spencer as our new head coach. 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."

   After he left the coaching position with the Bears, Carbery spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, coaching their power play that ranked second in the NHL with a 26.6 percent conversion rate over the two years he was in Toronto.

   The last two years of Carbery's playing career were with the Capitals ECHL team, the South Carolina Stingrays. He became the Stingrays head coach in 2011 and also coached the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL and Providence Bruins of the AHL before coaching in Hershey and Toronto.

   Carbery said that "It's a tremendous honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the Washington Capitals. 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."

   The Capitals hiring of Carbery comes in the wake of the first time they missed the playoffs since the 2013-2014 season, with the team winning a Stanley Cup in 2017-2018 under then head coach Barry Trotz. He joins Andrew Brunette as the first two head coaches hired this offseason.