Capitals sign coach Spencer Carbery to multiyear extensionRyan S. ClarkJun 18, 2026, 11:20 AM ETClose
- Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery has signed a multiyear contract extension, the team unveiled Thursday.
Agreeing to a new deal with Carbery, 44, who has built a reputation as one of the NHL’s most promising coaches, comes after he guided the Capitals within four points of the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
“We are pleased to extend Spencer to a new multiyear contract,” Capitals general manager and senior vice president Chris Patrick reported in a statement. “Since joining our organization, Spencer has played an important role in the development of many of our young players while also earning the respect and trust of our veteran leaders.”
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Even with veterans such as the NHL’s career leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, the Capitals were among the youngest teams in the NHL this season. They had the 21st youngest roster in the NHL, according to Elite Prospects.
Carbery, who was the head coach of the Capitals’ AHL affiliate between 2018 and 2021, was a Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach when he was hired by the Capitals to be their head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. He guided the Capitals to a 40-31-11 record and would make the playoffs before losing in the first round to the New York Rangers.
A year later, he coached the Capitals to a 51-win season that saw them finish with the most points in the East and the third most in the NHL. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes. Carbery’s work led to him winning the Jack Adams Award, which is given to the NHL’s best coach.
Carbery’s fourth season in charge is expected to be one that could see the Capitals potentially return to the playoffs in what could once again be a tightly contested Eastern Conference landscape in 2026-27.
PuckPedia projects the Caps have $31.35 million to strengthen a roster that has a two-player restricted free agent class in forwards Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael in addition to a three-player unrestricted free agent class that is led by their 40-year-old captain in Ovechkin, who has yet to announce his plans for next season.
