Bruce Boudreau was the head coach of the Capitals from 2007 through 2011.

The Washington Capitals are an American professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team joined the NHL in 1974 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference championship in 1998. The Capitals have played their home games at the Capital One Arena, formerly known as the MCI Center and Verizon Center, since 1997.[1] The Capitals are owned by Ted Leonsis, and Brian MacLellan is their general manager.[2]

There have been 18 head coaches for the Capitals franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Jim Anderson, who coached for less than a season. Bryan Murray is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (672), the most regular-season game wins (343), the most regular-season points (769), the most playoff games coached (53), and the most playoff-game wins (24). Murray's brother, Terry, has also coached the Capitals, right after his brother Bryan.[3][4] Roger Crozier, who only coached one game for the Capitals, is the franchise's all-time leader for the least regular-season game points (0). Ron Wilson won the Prince of Wales Trophy with the Capitals, but lost the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings.[5][6] Bryan Murray, Bruce Boudreau and Barry Trotz are the only Capitals coaches to have won the Jack Adams Award.[7] None of the Capitals coaches have been elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder. Anderson, Danny Belisle, Gary Green, Crozier, Glen Hanlon, Dale Hunter and Adam Oates have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Capitals.[8]

Dale Hunter, who replaced Boudreau on November 28, 2011, resigned on May 14, 2012, citing personal reasons. Adam Oates was named the Capitals' 16th head coach on June 26, 2012.[9] After having missed the playoffs for the second time in seven years, the Washington Capitals hired former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz on May 26, 2014.[10] Trotz resigned as head coach in June 2018, after winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in the franchise's history. Later that same month, the team promoted Todd Reirden, a Capitals assistant coach since 2014, to the head coaching position.

Key

# Number of coaches[a]
GC Games coached
W Wins = 2 points
L Losses = 0 points
T Ties = 1 point
OT Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point[b]
PTS Points
* Spent entire NHL coaching career with the Capitals

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2021–22 NHL season.

# Name Term[c] Regular season Playoffs Achievements Reference
GC W L T/OT PTS GC W L Win%
1 Jim Anderson* 1974–1975 54 4 45 5 13 — — — — [11]
2 Red Sullivan 1975 18 2 16 0 4 — — — — [12]
3 Milt Schmidt 1975–1975 44 5 34 5 15 — — — — [13]
4 Tom McVie 1975–1978 204 49 122 33 131 — — — — [14]
5 Danny Belisle* 1978–1979 96 28 51 17 73 — — — — [15]
6 Gary Green* 1979–1981 157 50 78 29 129 — — — — [16]
7 Roger Crozier* 1981 1 0 1 0 0 — — — — [17]
8 Bryan Murray 1981–1990 672 343 246 83 769 53 24 29 .453 Jack Adams Award (1984)[7] [18]
9 Terry Murray 1990–1994 325 163 134 28 354 39 18 21 .462 [19]
10 Jim Schoenfeld 1994–1997 249 113 102 34 260 24 10 14 .417 [20]
11 Ron Wilson 1997–2002 410 192 159 59 443 32 15 17 .469 [21]
12 Bruce Cassidy 2002–2003 110 47 47 16 110 6 2 4 .333 [22]
13 Glen Hanlon* 2003–2007 239 78 122 39 195 — — — — [23]
14 Bruce Boudreau 2007–2011 329 201 88 40 442 37 17 20 .459 Presidents' Trophy (2010)
Jack Adams Award (2008)[7] 		[24]
15 Dale Hunter* 2011–2012 60 30 23 7 67 14 7 7 .500 [25]
16 Adam Oates 2012–2014 130 65 48 17 147 7 3 4 .429 [26]
17 Barry Trotz 2014–2018 328 205 89 34 444 63 36 27 .571 Stanley Cup champions (2018)
Presidents' Trophy (2016, 2017)
Jack Adams Award (2016) 		[27]
18 Todd Reirden* 2018–2020 151 89 46 16 194 15 5 10 .333 [28]
19 Peter Laviolette 2020–2023 138 80 41 17 177 11 3 8 .273 [29]
20 Spencer Carbery* 2023–present — — — — — — — — —

Notes

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "Verizon Center Facts". Washington Sports & Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  2. ^ "Washington Capitals Club History - Franchise Timeline". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  3. ^ "Blackhawks eye Terry Murray". CBC. 2001-04-18. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  4. ^ Warren, Ken (September 24, 2008). "Murray not sick over this trip". The Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  5. ^ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2006-04-23. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  6. ^ "Stanley Cup Champions and Finalists". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  7. ^ a b c "Caps Award Winners". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  8. ^ "Washington Capitals Coach Register". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  9. ^ "Adam Oates is Capitals' new coach". Sporting News NHL. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  10. ^ "Caps name Trotz as coach, MacLellan as GM". 26 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Jim Anderson Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  12. ^ "Red Sullivan Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  13. ^ "Milt Schmidt Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  14. ^ "Tom McVie Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  15. ^ "Danny Belisle Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  16. ^ "Gary Green Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  17. ^ "Roger Crozier Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  18. ^ "Bryan Murray Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  19. ^ "Terry Murray Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  20. ^ "Jim Schoenfeld Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  21. ^ "Ron Wilson Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  22. ^ "Bruce Cassidy Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  23. ^ "Glen Hanlon Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  24. ^ "Bruce Boudreau Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  25. ^ "Dale Hunter Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
  26. ^ "Adam Oates Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  27. ^ "Barry Trotz NHL & WHA Hockey Coaching Record | Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  28. ^ "Todd Reirden NHL & WHA Hockey Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  29. ^ "Peter Laviolette NHL & WHA Hockey Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  30. ^ "Official Rules" (PDF). NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-12-05.

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