Spencer Carbery has been named the NHL’s top coach for 2025, and the numbers show why it wasn’t even close.
The Washington Capitals boss ran away with the Jack Adams Award voting, picking up 81 first-place votes out of 103 ballots. That’s pretty impressive for a guy in just his second year as an NHL head coach.
What did Carbery do to earn all those votes? He turned the Caps into an offensive powerhouse.
His team scored 68 more goals than last season, dominated their division, and wound up first in the Eastern Conference. Only Winnipeg finished with a better record in the entire league.
The Capitals improved by a whopping 20 points from last season’s 91-point finish. They were also one of the NHL’s best teams at killing penalties and maintaining a strong goal differential.
“It’s a remarkable achievement,” said one broadcaster. “The team’s transformation under Carbery has been incredible to watch.”
He’s actually made history with this win. Carbery is now the first coach ever to win Coach of the Year at all three levels – ECHL, AHL, and NHL. That’s quite a career path.
The Capitals have now had four coaches win this award. Carbery joins some pretty good company with Bryan Murray (1984), Bruce Boudreau (2008), and Barry Trotz (2016).
Winnipeg’s Scott Arniel finished second in the voting with 16 first-place votes and 249 total points. Montreal’s Martin St. Louis came in third with just two first-place votes.
The rest of the NHL’s major awards will be announced Thursday at 5 p.m. CT, right before Game 4 of the Oilers-Panthers series.
While the voting happened before the playoffs, it’s worth noting that Carbery’s Capitals made it to the second round before Carolina knocked them out.
