Screen cap: Youtube/@TheHersheyBears
The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun is reporting that he believes the Washington Capitals have already reached out to the Toronto Maple Leafs for permission to interview former Hershey Bears head coach Spencer Carbery. However, he added that neither team would confirm to him on Tuesday.
“Now that the Maple Leafs are out of the playoffs, there’s no question that teams will be reaching out about Toronto assistant coach Spencer Carbery, and I believe the Capitals, his old organization, have already sought permission to interview him for their vacant head coach position, although neither organization would confirm that Tuesday,” reported Lebrun.
Carbery was primed for a move to Washington (as we wrote about here).He was named ECHL Coach of the Year (2014) and was named the AHL’s Most Outstanding coach for the 2020-21 season in May of 2021.
Carbery signed a three-year extension with the Washington Capitals to remain the Bears’ head coach on April 22, 2021, before the Toronto Maple Leafs swooped in and hired him as an assistant coach two months later.
Named head coach of the Bears on June 26, 2018, Carbery led the club to a three-year record of 104-50-9-8, good for a .658 points percentage, including a 53-18-3-2 mark (111 points, .730) in their last 76 regular-season games.
According to ESPN, Carbery is still thought highly of in the Caps organization. Washington wanted to keep him on before he was signed by the Maple Leafs.
Lebrun also said that the Capitals have already conducted other interviews for their head coaching vacancy, but did not specify who the interviewees were.
“We’ve previously reported the Caps’ interest in Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern. I’m told the Caps have also interviewed other coaching candidates, so this isn’t a two-person field,” added LeBrun.
Labrun reported on May 3 that the Capitals were expected to interview Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach and former Capital Jeff Halpern in their head coach search process.
Halpern is a fan favorite for many Capitals fans. The native of Potomac, Maryland spent parts of seven seasons with the Capitals before departing for the final time following the 2011-12 season.
By Jon Sorensen
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