Spencer Carbery, as a rookie head coach, helped lead the Washington Capitals to an improbable playoff berth on the final day of their season. The Capitals had the worst goal differential, minus-37, of any team to qualify in the salary cap era.
And the team faced constant adversity along the way:
- The Capitals went 1-3-1 to start the season and were outscored 19-7 (minus-12 goal differential) as they installed Carbery’s new system
- Nicklas Backstrom stepped away from the team on November 1 and essentially retired
- Alex Ovechkin, 38, scored only eight goals in his first 43 games until a camel ride transformed his season
- The Capitals went an entire month without a power-play goal
- TJ Oshie missed 30 games due to lingering back issues and other injury problems
- Evgeny Kuznetsov struggled before entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program and was ultimately traded at the deadline
- The Capitals were sellers at the trade deadline
- Darcy Kuemper had a career-worst season
- Nick Jensen missed the end of the season after being stretchered off the ice
- Ethan Bear entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program
- Tom Wilson was suspended for six games
- Young players Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Beck Malenstyn, Alex Alexeyev, and Matthew Phillips were fully integrated into the team
- Bears players Hendrix Lapierre, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Vincent Iorio, Pierrick Dube, Dylan McIlrath, and Hardy Häman Aktell all played in important games
But despite clearing all those hurdles and dealing with a regularly changing roster, Carbery was not named one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year.
The three up for the award are the Winnipeg Jets’ Rick Bowness, the Nashville Predators’ Andrew Brunette, and the Vancouver Canucks’ Rick Tocchet. Peter Laviolette, who led the New York Rangers to the NHL’s best record this season, was also arguably snubbed.
The NHL Broadcasters’ Association submitted ballots for this season’s best coach.
Here’s the full press release from the NHL:
Bowness, Brunette and Tocchet Voted Jack Adams Award Finalists
NEW YORK (May 3, 2024) – Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award, presented to the head coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success,” the National Hockey League announced today.
Members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association submitted ballots for the Jack Adams Award after the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists.
Following are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, in alphabetical order:
Rick Bowness, Winnipeg Jets
Bowness, in his second season with the Jets, guided Winnipeg (52-24-6, 110 points) to the second-highest regular-season points total in franchise history and fourth place in the NHL overall standings. They tied a franchise record for wins (52), set a franchise best for road wins (25) and allowed the fewest goals in the League (199, including one GA for a shootout loss). It marked the first time in Jets/Thrashers history the club had allowed fewer than 200 goals over a full-length season. The Jets posted an eight-game winning streak for the first time ever (Dec. 30 – Jan. 11), part of a franchise-record 14-game point streak (12-0-2) that lifted the club to first overall in the NHL at the season’s midpoint. They repeated the feat by winning their final eight games of the regular season (April 1-18). Bowness, who completed his 14th NHL season as a head coach and 36th as a head or assistant, is a Jack Adams finalist for the first time. He also is the first Jack Adams finalist for the Jets/Thrashers franchise.
Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators
In his first season coaching the Predators (47-30-5, 99 points), Brunette led Nashville back to the postseason after an eight-season playoff streak was snapped in 2022-23. Keying the revival was a franchise-record 18-game point streak from Feb. 17-March 26 (16-0-2), the longest point streak in the NHL this season and the longest since Colorado (17-0-2) in 2021-22. The Predators outscored their opponents 74-33 in that span, tallied the most goals per game (4.11) and allowed the fewest (1.83). Brunette is a Jack Adams finalist for the second time in as many seasons as an NHL head coach, following a second-place finish with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. Only two others have been voted finalists in each of their first two seasons behind an NHL bench: Terry Crisp (CGY, 2nd in 1987-88 and 3rd in 1988-89) and Paul MacLean (OTT, 3rd in 2011-12 and 1st in 2012-13). Brunette is the third Jack Adams finalist in Predators history, joining Barry Trotz (2nd in 2009-10, 3rd in 2010-11) and Peter Laviolette (3rd in 2014-15).
Rick Tocchet, Vancouver Canucks
Tocchet, in his first full season behind the Vancouver bench, led the club to one of its finest regular seasons, capturing the Pacific Division title and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with their third-highest point total (50-23-9, 109 pts). The Canucks made dramatic gains over 2022-23 in several categories, climbing from 22nd to sixth in the overall NHL standings; from 26th to 4th in points earned at home (40 to 59); from 25th to 5th (tie) in average goals-against per game (3.61 to 2.70) and from 32nd to 17th in penalty-killing percentage (71.6% to 79.1%). They posted the NHL’s best goal differential in the first period (+38) and excelled late as well, going 42-1-4 when leading after two periods — the most such wins in the League and double their total from 2022-23 (21-1-4). Tocchet, a first-time Jack Adams finalist, aims to become the third winner in Canucks history, following Pat Quinn in 1991-92 and Alain Vigneault in 2006-07. He is the club’s first finalist for this award since Vigneault finished second in 2010-11.
History
The award was presented by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association in 1974 in honor of the late Jack Adams, longtime coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.
Announcement Schedule
The series of NHL Trophy finalist announcements for the 2024 NHL Awards continues S
