To mark the halfway point of the 2024-25 regular season, NHL.com is running its third installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the top coach in the NHL as selected in a vote by the NHL Broadcasters' Association.
The Washington Capitals aren't in first place in the Metropolitan Division and miles ahead of projections because of talent alone.
The front office has been deft retooling them for sustained success, planting the first seed by putting their trust in a 41-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach named Spencer Carbery to replace Peter Laviolette on May 30, 2023, after the latter and the organization mutually parted ways six weeks prior.
After the 2018 Stanley Cup champions failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, the job was given to Carbery, a first-time head coach at the top level who guided Washington's American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey for three seasons (2018-21).
And now, Carbery is the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award at the halfway point of the season, according to a panel of 16 NHL.com writers. He received 73 voting points, including 13 first-place votes. Scott Arniel of the Winnipeg Jets, the favorite after the first quarter, got 49 (three for first), followed by John Hynes (Minnesota Wild, 33) and Sheldon Keefe (New Jersey Devils, 32).
There's a lot of excitement in Washington and not only because of captain Alex Ovechkin's 872 goals that has him 23 from passing Wayne Gretzky for most in NHL history. The Capitals (27-10-4) went 10-5-1 when Ovechkin was sidelined for 16 games with a fractured left fibula from Nov. 21-Dec. 23 and hold a four-point division lead over the New Jersey Devils while riding a five-game point streak (3-0-2) and nine in a row on home ice (7-0-2).
"Winning is always fun," Ovechkin said after scoring No. 872 in a 7-4 win against the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena on Saturday. "When you're winning, you have an unbelievable mood in the locker room. Coaches have a great time with it as well."
Carbery's savvy and that of his staff became clear when forward Will Cuylle appeared to pull the Rangers within 3-2 at 13:04 of the second period. Video coaches Emily Engel-Natzke and Brett Leonhardt told Carbery the play might have been offside, so Carbery called timeout to buy another minute. He called a coach's challenge and after a review of about four minutes, it was determined New York forward Brett Berard preceded the puck into the zone.
"The challenge from our video department, Emily and Brett," Carbery told his players in a video posted by the Capitals on X, "that's arguably a game-changing challenge right there to get more time and get the angle that they needed, so that was huge."
