Three Washington Capitals head coaching candidates.
It was reported on Sunday that the Washington Capitals had fired their head coach Todd Reirden. Reirden had coached the team for the last two seasons. Those two seasons were seasons to forget for the Capitals, both being first round eliminations.
When you have a team as talented as the Capitals a first round exit just won’t do it, let alone two. Thanks to those performances and results the Caps are now searching for a new head coach. This is a hire they can’t really afford to get wrong.
I write this in late August in the cursed year that is 2020. What that means in relation to this article is we are less than a month away from Alex Ovechkin’s birthday, his 35th birthday. I don’t think I need to tell you that his years are numbered. If the Capitals get this next head coach wrong it’s at least another two years wasted and we’ll be back here when Ovechkin is 37.
Other key, the Caps are getting older as well. Nicklas Backstrom will be 33 before we start the next season, whenever that is. John Carlson has hit 30. T.J Oshie is 33, and their long time goaltender Braden Holtby seems unlikely to return due to an expiring contract, leaving an unproven netminder as their number one going forward.
This is an important hire.
The Capitals are a little lucky in one sense. There are several big name, veteran coaches that they can choose from to take over this Cup contending team. It’s sounding like that is what the Capitals want in their next head coach as well, a veteran guy who can command respect in this locker room that they have assembled.
After two playoffs where effort has been a major question, hiring a vet who can get these guys going and won’t take the lack of effort would be the smartest thing this front office can do. As we said, there are plenty of those guys on the market. Here are three the Caps should consider.