Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin loves the hiring of new head coach Spencer Carbery.

Ovechkin shared his thoughts in a recent interview with Mikhail Zislis of the Russian website Sports-Express.  Ovechkin likes Carbery's familiarity with the Capitals organization. The new Washington head coach first broke in the hockey coaching ranks with the South Carolina Stingrays, the Capitals' ECHL affiliate, in 2010.

The 29-year-old Carbery made ECHL history by becoming the league's youngest head coach in the summer of 2011. Not only that, but Carbery also became the Stingrays' director of hockey operations. He remained with the Stingrays for the next six years.

The Hershey Bears, the Capitals' AHL affiliate, hired Carbery as their head coach in the summer of 2018. Carbery led the Bears to the AHL title and won the league's coach of the year award in 2021.

Carbery left the Bears to become an assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in July 2021.He spent the next two seasons with Toronto before accepting the Capitals' offer to become their head coach on May 30, 2023.

Will the Capitals break into the playoffs in Alex Ovechkin's 19th season?

Spencer Carbery's first season as Capitals head coach coincides with Alex Ovechkin's 19th with the team. The latter isn't entertaining thoughts of switching teams unless the Capitals asked him to accept a move. He feels it doesn't make sense to play for another team considering he's always felt at home in the nation's capital.  He has three years remaining on his current deal that pays him an average annual salary of $9.5 million.

The Capitals had a 35-37-10 record in Peter Laviolette's last season as their head coach in the 2022-23 NHL season. It was just the fourth time Washington missed the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs since Ovechkin's rookie year in the 2005-06 NHL campaign.

Now, Carbery has a formidable top-six that consists of Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Max Pacioretty, Nicklas Backstrom, and TJ Oshie.

On that note, don't act surprised if the Capitals return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in resounding fashion.