Spencer Carbery believes his hiring as head coach of the Washington Capitals in 2023 is partly owed to the skills of former Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner.
“The two years that I spent [in Toronto], I owe a lot [to him,]” Carbery told ESPN’s Arda Ocal and Greg Wyshynski on an episode of “The Drop” podcast released Monday. “I told [Marner] this after getting the job in Washington, I owe a lot to him as to why I’m an NHL head coach.”
Carbery was an assistant coach with Toronto from 2021-23, running the club’s power play which Marner featured heavily on. The Maple Leafs were the NHL’s best at scoring on the man-advantage in his first year (27.3 percent) and finished behind only the Edmonton Oilers the following season (26.0 percent). Marner assisted on 46 of the team’s 127 power play tallies and scored 15 himself in those years.
“He did some things that you just can’t coach. You can’t teach,” Carbery praised. “It’s his individual talent.”
The 43-year-old bench boss won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year last season with the Eastern Conference-leading Caps and won 91 regular season games in his first two seasons at the helm, a club record. Marner has since departed Toronto, signing an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Vegas Golden Knights as part of a sign-and-trade deal in late June.
Carbery believes Marner will “be fantastic” with his new team, but acknowledged the way his tenure with Toronto ended was unfortunate. Marner was the target of much online criticism and threats from fans unhappy about the team’s consistent playoff shortcomings.
“I understand Toronto, I understand the pressure and expectations,” Carbery lamented. “When it’s always Stanley Cup or bust, it’s hard. Mitch took a lot of that over the years.”
Marner finished with 741 points (221g, 520a) in nine seasons with the Maple Leafs, but the team only won two playoff series in that time.
“Fans are entitled to their opinion and what they see and how they come to their conclusions is up to them,” Carbery added. “Mitch got a lot of the brunt to that, but he is a generational player.”
