Capitals hire pair of assistant coaches to fill out Spencer Carbery’s staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Spencer Carbery’s staff has been filled out.
The Washington Capitals announced the hirings of assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Kenny McCudden on Thursday, filling out the remaining vacancies on Carbery’s staff entering the 2023-24 season.
Muller joins the Capitals’ organization with nearly four decades of professional hockey experience: 19 seasons as an NHL player and 17 years in the coaching ranks. He most recently spent the past two seasons as an assistant in Calgary under head coach Darryl Sutter.
With Carbery being a first-time NHL bench boss, the addition of Muller adds a coach to his staff that has previous NHL head coach experience. Muller spent three seasons as the head coach of the Nashville Predators from 2011-2014, including one conference semi-final appearance. It’s worth noting that Muller coached a pair of Capitals, forwards Dylan Strome and Anthony Mantha, when he served as an assistant for Team Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Championships.
McCudden, 61, joins Washington after spending the past eight years in Columbus as an assistant/skills coach for the Blue Jackets. Before joining Columbus, McCudden spent 16 years as the skate/skills coach for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
In addition to hiring Muller and McCudden, the Capitals made a pair of internal staff promotional as well. Zach Leddon has been elevated to head strength coach, while Mike Wagner will fill Leddon’s old role as assistant strength coach.
Leddon takes over for longtime strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish, who retired this year after 16 years with the Capitals organization and 22 years in the NHL. Wagner joins the Capitals staff from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, where he spent the past five years as their strength and conditioning coach.
