Caps, Laviolette agree to mutually part ways after 3 seasons originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals and head coach Peter Laviolette mutually agreed to part ways ahead of his contract expiring June 30, the team announced Friday.
“We are grateful for Peter’s leadership and dedication to our organization for the last three seasons,” GM Brian MacLellan said in a statement. “Peter is a first-class individual who has represented our club with integrity and guided our team through many difficult circumstances in his tenure as our head coach. We wish him all the best moving forward.”
The announcement came one day after the Capitals played their season finale, a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. Laviolette coached the team for three seasons, posting a 115-78-27 record from 2020-23 with two playoff appearances. Washington lost in the first round of both runs before missing out on the postseason this year for the first time since 2013-14.
Laviolette, who won the 2006 Stanley Cup as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, holds a career record of 752-503-25-150 between stints with the Capitals, Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators. He ranks eighth in career wins among NHL head coaches and holds the record for the most of any American-born coach.
Moving forward without Laviolette, the Capitals are now tasked with identifying a new head coach to lead their veteran-laded roster back to the playoffs in 2023-24. The Capitals have most of their players from this year’s team under contract through next season including six holdovers from their 2018 Stanley Cup-winning roster: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
