Washington Capitals general manager Chris Patrick did not rule out making some changes to head coach Spencer Carbery’s coaching staff after an uneven 2025-26 campaign from the club’s special teams units.
“I’ve got to talk to Carbs,” Patrick said on Monday. “We just got through all the player meetings. I’ve got to talk to Carbs, meet with the coaching staff, and see how we move forward from there.”
This past year, Carbery was flanked by assistants Scott Allen, Patrick Wellar, and Kirk Muller. Allen and Muller have been on Carbery’s staff since he was hired by the Capitals ahead of the 2023-24 season, while Wellar officially joined the group in November after the Caps fired Mitch Love.
Allen, who has been in the organization for seven years now, headed up the team’s penalty kill. The shorthanded unit ultimately rebounded from some early-season struggles to finish 14th-best (80.1 percent) in the league, particularly excelling after the Olympic break, killing off 83.6 percent of power plays from February 25 onward.
The former Hershey Bears head coach predates Carbery’s arrival, staying with the Capitals after Peter Laviolette was fired in 2023. He was originally hired as an assistant to Carbery on Hershey’s staff for the 2019-20 season.
Wellar took over the duties left behind by Love, handling the club’s defensemen. At the end of the regular season, the Capitals’ defense corps finished as one of the top offensive groups in the NHL, scoring the third-most goals (55) and tallying the third-most points (212).
Jakob Chychrun, who was the biggest contributor to those numbers, had only good things to say about Wellar during his Breakdown Day media availability.
“I think he’s just a really smart coach,” Chychrun said. “He cares a lot. I think he had a lot of success in the AHL, and the guys loved him. Everybody you talk to loves the guy. I think he’s got a really great future in this league, a good hockey mind, and thinks the game really well. Really open, easy to talk to, easy to get along with. Yeah, I really like him a lot. I’m excited to continue to build my relationship with him and work together. I think he’ll be here a long time.”
Given the relative success of the other two coaches, Muller is likely the most in jeopardy of being replaced this summer. The former Carolina Hurricanes head coach led a Capitals power-play unit that ranked at the bottom of the NHL all season and could take blame for the Caps missing the playoffs for the first time since Carbery was hired.
Even with some late-season personnel changes spurring on better numbers, the power play still finished just 25th best in the league at 17.8 percent effectiveness. They also gave up 11 shorthanded goals, one of just three teams to allow more than 10 this past year, which led them to finish 29th in net power play percentage (13.3 percent).
Carbery was frustrated by his team’s lack of success on the power play throughout the season. However, when asked about the struggles in March, he expressed full confidence in Muller, instead placing blame on the entire coaching staff.
“We’re all involved in [the power play],” Carbery said then. “I’m not going to break down the specifics of who handles each and every responsibility. Kirk runs our power play, does a great job. It’s not a lack of effort, and not a lack of him trying to turn over every rock and find solutions to what’s going on. We all contribute, and we all help where we see fit.”
When making changes to their coaching staff, NHL teams typically like to do so at the beginning of the offseason so that they have more time to pursue replacements and don’t miss out on the most sought-after coaches.
