Spencer Carbery is back with the Capitals after two years in Toronto, and he has a vision in mind.
Spencer Carbery is back with the Capitals after two years in Toronto, and he has a vision in mind.
WASHINGTON -- As he took in Capital One Arena and got reacquainted with the Washington Capitals, new head coach Spencer Carbery couldn't stop smiling.
It's not only a new frontier for him as he prepares to be an NHL head coach for the first time, but it's an opportunity -- one he's waited years for -- to establish a new era of hockey in the nation's capital.
"I'm beyond excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work for this organization, this community, this fan base and our players," Carbery said. "I'm going to put everything I've got into this organization... I'm going to do everything I possibly can to make this team a group on the ice that we can be proud of."
Carbery's rise through the ranks began as a Division III hockey player, where he carved out a pro career that led him to the Capitals' ECHL-affiliate South Carolina Stingrays. After playing for them, he took over as the head coach, the went to oversee the Hershey Bears from 2018 to 2021.
His road then led to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and after building one of the league's most dominant power plays as an assistant for two seasons, he landed his dream job. For general manager Brian MacLellan, there were multiple candidates that interviewed, but hiring Carbery was an easy decision.
"Spencer was on top from day one," MacLellan said.
Now, it's time for Carbery to seize his opportunity, and he has a clear vision when it comes to turning Washington back into a contender after missing out on the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
As he mentioned, the Capitals are in an interesting place. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson make up an aging core, while the likes of Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Beck Malenstyn, Hendrix Lapierre and more up-and-comers are trying to establish themselves as full-time NHLers. At the same time, there's a desire to remain competitive, especially as Ovechkin chases down Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record.
"There's a mix, right? I think my job coming in here -- we have a highly motivated group of veteran players, a leadership group, and we also have a group of [young] players that it’s my job to bring along into that group," Carbery explained. "You have young players that are hungry to prove that they’re capable National Hockey League players and then you’ve got a group of veteran players that feel like they got a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and they’re ready to prove something, that we’re still a very strong team in the National Hockey League."
With that being said, Carbery has kept a close eye on his once-former and now-current club over the last couple of seasons, and he sees areas that he can immediately improve with just two key terms: "pace" and "connected."
"A lot of people equate pace with speed, and for me, pace is a little bit different than just straight players that can skate fast and play quick," Carbery explained. "Pace for me is you can show that with the puck and without. our puck pressure, our neutral zone, our d zone puck pressure, our forecheck and then with the puck. We will talk constantly about our pace. and playing at a higher pace and getting up the ice with and without the puck and putting pressure when we don’t have it, let’s get it back, getting on the attack, pace-wise.
"Then the other part of that, the connected term that I used, I think it’s important that we have guys on the ice that are on the same page. And we’ve got to be really connected as we move up the ice. We’ll get into all the X’s and O’s, but the connected term is something that I’ll use a lot with our group, of making sure that five guys are on the same page with how the puck is going to transport from our end to the other end or vice versa.”
In addition to connecting his five forwards, he wants to help his younger players reach their full potential. Peter Laviolette often relied on the club's veterans to take on more of the responsibilities, but Carbery sounds like he wants to incorporate more of the prospects into the mix sooner rather than later, especially after working with a lot of them during his time in Hershey.
"Those relationships will help us speed up the process of getting to know them and then understanding what I expect. So like I said, very excited to work with those guys," Carbery said, adding, "It's very important that we're able to develop through the organization and hopefully create those tiers where guys are able to come up and play for the Washington Capitals and contribute to a winning culture... our players will know exactly what the expectations are."
And, lastly, Carbery emphasized the importance of the power play.
“That’ll be a major focus of mine... I followed our power play very, very closely over the last few years, watched it all. I think there’s some things that we can do there. I think a lot of what you’re talking about, that’s personnel stuff, coming in and out constantly, causes a little bit of disruption to that," Carbery said. "But a very, very important part of it that you touch on that we will have to ensure that we’re paying close attention to it and we make quality decisions in terms of our staff and what the direction and what we’re trying to accomplish as a group as it relates to that.”
Ultimately, Carbery knows that the next four years behind the bench won't be easy, but he's embracing the pressure and is eager to prove that he can work wonders with a team hanging in the balance and walking the line between retooling and rebuilding.
"There's no question, it's going to be a daily challenge," Carbery noted with a smile, "You talked about the competitiveness, the difficulty to make the playoffs... but that's what my job is. I've got to get to work immediately."