Adams Tracker: Carbery of Capitals choice to win Jack Adams as top coach

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."

Carbery elaborated further during his postgame press conference. Engel-Natzke and Leonhardt waited for ABC to show an overhead shot from the scoreboard that had the entire blue line with feet and puck.

"I always tell them if you need more angles, I'll use our timeout to buy more time," Carbery said. "[The officials are] rushing me in that moment and saying, 'You've got to decide.' That was the shot we needed. We knew right away it was coming back."

Prospects now playing for the Capitals who developed under Carbery in Hershey include defenseman Martin Fehervary and forwards Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas. Leading the pipeline is Ryan Leonard, a sophomore forward at Boston College chosen No. 8 in the 2023 NHL Draft and named most valuable player of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship for the gold-medal winning United States.

Though the Ovechkin era is in its twilight, there's a foundation and culture in place that's learning to win and getting stronger. At the root of it is Carbery, his vision and that of the front office.

"There's not always a secret formula," said forward Tom Wilson, playing his 12th season for the Capitals. "Everyone kind of looks for it, but just to have guys that come in and fit well and work well. When it happens, it's a great thing, and so far, we've been clicking pretty well."

Their coach and his staff are clicking too.

"They made a great call," forward Dylan Strome said after the win. "I didn't even think about offside when that puck went in, so good on them to see it."

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis): Spencer Carbery, Capitals, 73 points (13 first-place votes); Scott Arniel, Jets, 49 votes (3); John Hynes, Wild, 33 votes; Sheldon Keefe, Devils, 32 votes; Bruce Cassidy, Vegas Golden Knights, 10; Jim Hiller, Los Angeles Kings, 10; Dean Evason, Columbus Blue Jackets, nine; Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, eight; Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs, seven; Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers, six; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, two; Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens, one.

NHL.com senior writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report