Trophy Tracker: Carbery of Capitals top choice for Adams as coach of year

To mark the three-quarter point of the 2024-25 regular season, NHL.com is running its fourth 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 are facing a challenge a lot different, if not equal, to fighting for every inch and scrambling until the last day of the regular season to earn a wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Significantly different," coach Spencer Carbery said, "which you might not think."

That was March 4, when the Capitals led the Eastern Conference with 39 wins and 86 points, two behind the Winnipeg Jets, and one day after a 5-4 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena ended a season-high three-game losing streak. A postseason berth for the 10th time in 11 seasons is all but secured. Maybe with it the Presidents' Trophy for the first time since 2016-17 after finishing 17th last season, which would be the second-largest leap by a No. 1 seed in NHL history to the New York Rangers going from 19th in 1992-93 to No. 1 in 1993-94.

Washington's quantum leap has a lot to do with Carbery, the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award at the three-quarter mark of the season with 75 voting points, 11 for first place, from a panel of 16 NHL.com writers. Scott Arniel of the Jets got 57 (one for first) and Dean Evason of the Columbus Blue Jackets 33 (four first-place votes).

The Capitals (43-14-8) have designs on being the best in everything: Alex Ovechkin completing The Gr8 Chase, the most points in the regular season and, of course, the second Stanley Cup championship in their history (2018). It's probable they'll win the Metropolitan Division and home ice throughout the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, leaving Carbery to figure out the delicate balance of playing hard and dialing back.

"I'm finding it just as challenging, believe it or not," he said, "because it's a fine line of pushing the group and wanting us to be at our best, but also understanding and being sympathetic to the fact that our players look at the standings and they see where we're at."

Compare to nearly 11 months ago when the Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on April 16, clinching the second wild card from the East because they owned the tiebreaker against the Detroit Red Wings based on regulation wins (32-27) after the teams finished the season tied with 91 points. A 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers on March 5 was the 40th victory in their 62nd game, matching the total from last season. Five skaters have scored at least 20 goals, led by Ovechkin's 33, and Tom Wilson one goal from his first 30-goal season in the NHL. Goaltending is secured for the long term with Charlie Lindgren signing a three-year, $9 million contract ($3 million average annual value) on March 3, five weeks after Logan Thompson got six years and $31 million ($5.85 million AAV) with Washington on Jan. 27.

Ovechkin (886) is nine goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record (894) after scoring an empty-net goal at 18:31 of the third period in a 4-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, becoming the 11th to reach 1,600 points. In the shadows, and conceivably not much longer, is Carbery, 43 years old and a first-time head coach at the top level. He's no stranger to winning, guiding Washington's American Hockey League affiliate (Hershey) to the 2020-21 regular-season championship and being named coach of the year.

The Capitals visit the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNW, MNMT2, SN, TVAS) trending toward their first 100-point season since 2021-22, when they lost in the first round in six games to the Florida Panthers after holding a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. There's 17 games left and a lot more to do, led by a spirited coach delighting in his next challenge.

"I think with a coach like 'Carbs,' he's always on top of us to keep adding stuff to our game," Wilson told the Capitals website March 5. "It really doesn't matter what we've done so far. You want to be finishing the year strong and ready to have a good run and get to the dance and see what happens."

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis):

Spencer Carbery, Capitals, 75 points (11 first-place votes); Scott Arniel, Jets, 57 (one first-place vote); Dean Evason, Blue Jackets, 55 (four first-place votes); Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs, 13; John Hynes, Minnesota Wild, 12; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, 7; Ryan Huska, Calgary Flames, 4; Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, 4; Sheldon Keefe, New Jersey Devils, 3; Jim Hiller, Los Angeles Kings, 3; Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens, 3; Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers, 2; Bruce Cassidy, Vegas Golden Knights, 1; Todd McLellan, Detroit Red Wings, 1.