Report: Carbery A Top Candidate In Capitals’ Head Coach Search; Boudreau’s Phone Silent

Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery is “at or near the top” of the Washington Capitals’ list of head coaching candidates, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir reported Monday.

Carbery, 41, met with Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan on Monday, according to the report. He is an in-demand candidate for head coaching vacancies around the league, including with the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks, according to additional reports.

While he lacks NHL head coaching experience, Carbery has been a head coach in the ECHL, AHL and OHL — with eight seasons coming with the Hershey Bears and the South Carolina Stingrays, both minor league affiliates of the Capitals.

Under Carbery’s watch, Toronto’s power play has become one of the best in the league since 2021, when Carbery joined the Maple Leafs’ staff.

Leafs 1/8 on power play last night with the goal courtesy the second unit

Assistant coach Spencer Carbery went through some things with the top unit (minus Matthews) at the end of practice pic.twitter.com/M2fhhp6X6o

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 21, 2022

El-Bashir also reported that Bruce Boudreau, himself a former Capitals head coach, has not been in contact with the team.

After coaching the Capitals from 2007-12, Boudreau has made head coaching stops with the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks. He currently works as a TV analyst on the NHL Network.