Carbery discusses Ovechkin, plans for Capitals in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this special offseason edition, we feature Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery.

Spencer Carbery has almost another month to wait before opening his first training camp as an NHL coach on Sept. 20, but he is eager to get to work with the Washington Capitals.

"We're champing at the bit here," Carbery said last week. "When things first happened, there's a lot of obligations and you're trying to just get settled in … Now that that stuff has all been taken care of, now it sort of gets to, 'Let's get this thing rolling.'"

Since being hired May 30 to succeed Peter Laviolette, Carbery has been busy finding and moving into a new home in Virginia with his family, communicating with the Capitals players and completing his staff by adding assistants Kirk Muller, Mitch Love and Kenny McCudden (skills). The 41-year-old had some familiarity with most of the players from his three seasons coaching Washington's American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey before working as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs the past two seasons. He's augmented that with conversations with each of them.

Taking over a team that didn't qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2014, Carbery wants everyone to be ready to hit the ground running when training camp practices begin. In a Q&A with NHL.com, Carbery discussed his plans for camp, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, the challenge of finding room for some younger players in a veteran lineup and more.

Heading into training camp are there any tenets you want to establish right away?

"Well, No. 1, right out of the gate, we're going to make some structural adjustments to our game and that is going to be priority No. 1 implementing those, getting everybody on the same page as quickly as possible with those, and then our identity as a team. And that goes more into all of areas of our 5-on-5 game of how we are going to play and what that looks like on a shift-by-shift basis, the competitiveness, the connectiveness with our group. That is kind of the identity portion that I call it."

In general terms, what will these structural adjustments be?

"We're going to make a few alterations to our neutral-zone play, a couple things in the defensive zone, and then also some of our O-zone tactics and forecheck, we'll make a few subtle adjustments there which aren't going to be massive changes but little tweaks that are going to be important to highlight and make sure everybody is on the same page in the details of it."

Are these tactics you've had success in the past with Toronto or with Hershey?

"Part of it is stuff that I've used in the past. Part of it is stuff that I've taken from Toronto and used there. So it will be a combination of both, the reason being, and this is probably the important point of it, is having sat back and looked, this wasn't just stuff that I said, 'We have to do this, this and this because this is the way that I coach.' It's more so of a standpoint of this is our group. Let's talk about the structure. What do we think will fit best with our group? What are we comfortable teaching? What are my beliefs as a coach and, even some of our assistant coaches, what do we feel strongly about? And then, what makes sense for our group? Coming to those decisions we've solidified (them) and now we just need to implement."

When you were hired you talked about wanting to play faster. Are these changes aimed at that?

"Pace is the word that I'll use a lot. And it's with and without the puck us just being a little bit quicker in all three zones not just with our movement, meaning our skating and us moving quicker up the ice or back into our defensive zone, but that's our puck movement, that's our decision making, that's our reads. It's just more pace to all of those things which will make us be able to play at a higher pace with and without the puck."

What have your conversations with captain Alex Ovechkin been like this offseason?

"In all the conversations that I've had with him, it seems like he's in a great frame of mind. Since being around him a few years ago, it's like he hasn't missed a beat. He's excited, hungry. Everything that he's talking about is getting back to the playoffs and winning again and what are we doing to get back to being a playoff hockey team. You can just feel through the phone and through our conversations his energy and excitement and enthusiasm. I'm just looking forward to getting to work with him this year and getting camp rolling because you can just tell how excited he is about it."

When you look at your roster, there are a lot of veterans and not many open lineup spots for younger players. Particularly after acquiring Joel Edmundson in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1, there might not be room to crack your top six on defense. Are there going to be younger players competing with veterans for jobs?

"I absolutely think so and I think on the back end if you look at sort of the makeup of the younger guys, I consider Marty Fehervary (23) still a young defenseman, Rasmus Sandin (23) a young defenseman, and Alex Alexeyev (23). Then, you have up-front guys that I'm trying to crack in, the Beck Malenstyns of the world, Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael, Joe Snively. So, I think there is a lot of competition there and it kind of goes back to there's a lot of guys trying to prove they belong. They're going to try to earn and prove that they deserve those spots and that opportunity inside of our lineup. That's going to be encouraged and our group pushing one another will be a big part of that."

Evgeny Kuznetsov showed the kind of positive impact he can have two seasons ago when he had 78 points (24 goals, 54 assists), but he wasn't as consistent last season when he had 55 points (12 goals, 43 assists). What can you do to help him get back to the level he was at two seasons ago?

"I think he's a very, very important player for our team. What he's capable of when he's on his game is world class and that's my challenge to help identify parts of his game, things I can help him with, put him in positions to have success. I have a real appreciation for the game that he plays and the style of play. I think understanding and appreciating the impact that he can have on a nightly basis when he's on his game, there's not a lot of players that can do what he can do. I'm going to do everything I can to help him get back to that level."

Have you talked with Kuznetsov much this summer?

"Yes, I have. He's back home in Russia and I've had multiple conversations with him over there. He's healthy, his training has gone well thus far. In my conversations with him, it sounds like there's a real focus to his preparation for next season, which is great to see."

Nicklas Backstrom talked after last season about how a full offseason of training would benefit him after recovering from hip resurfacing surgery last summer and the issues he had with the hip before that. What have you heard from him about how that has gone?

"Yeah, he's excited. Another guy that is really, really hungry and lots to prove and his summer of training, I think having the extra time but also being able to fully recover from his surgery and now being able to prepare for a season and a training camp, having a full offseason to do that, I think he's excited and it's been going well for him."

Max Pacioretty said when he signed with the Capitals on July 1 that he won't be ready for the start of season after tearing his Achilles tendon for the second time and having surgery in January. Any update on when he might play?

"I'm not sure of the exact timeline. I don't think he'll be ready for the start of the regular season. But whether it's in the November timeframe or December, whenever he's healthy and ready to go, I think it gives us a great asset in Max to be able to, partway into the season, potentially give us a real jolt offensively in our top six, someone who can help us on the power play, someone who has proven time and time again that they can find ways to score, which is something that is coveted around the League."