ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals entered their 2025 training camp down an assistant coach after placing Mitch Love on team-imposed leave Sunday pending an NHL investigation.
General manager Chris Patrick addressed Love’s absence on Thursday during the first day of training camp, noting that he believes the investigation relates to Love’s off-ice conduct rather than an on-the-job infraction.
“I’m sure you guys have a lot of questions,” he told reporters. “Unfortunately, due to an ongoing league investigation, we can’t really comment on it. We haven’t gotten a ton of details. One thing we can say is our understanding [is that] these allegations are more personal in nature and not hockey-related.”
Love, who has been with the Capitals since the 2023-24 season, was in the mix for several head-coaching jobs this offseason, with reported ties to the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Seattle Kraken. Per reporting from multiple sources, including the Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, both the league and a team interviewing him for a coaching job received a letter over the summer containing allegations about Love’s personal behavior, sparking the investigation. Hockey insider Frank Seravalli reported Wednesday that the allegations were made by a woman who was once in a relationship with Love.
Patrick said Thursday that he didn’t have a timeline for when NHL would render its decision. The team opted not to appoint an interim or guest assistant coach for training camp, though head coach Spencer Carbery was confident in his staff’s ability to cover for Love’s absence.
“We have a ton of coaches here: Hershey staff, South Carolina staff, so there’s a lot of holes that can be filled in for training camp,” Carbery said Thursday.
With both the length of the investigation and its eventual result still unknown, the Capitals are left in a state of limbo behind the bench, waiting to see when or if Love will return to the team. Should the investigation continue into the season, the Capitals could look to appoint a replacement until the NHL reaches a verdict, though Patrick hopes the team won’t have to reach that point.
“We’ll see how things play out here in camp,” he said. “Hopefully, the league comes through with a resolution soon, and then we can make decisions based on that.”
