Report: Capitals to interview Jeff Halpern for coaching vacancy

The Washington Capitals plan to interview Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Jeff Halpern for their head coaching vacancy, according to a report. 

The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Capitals want to speak with Halpern “at some point” during the search process. Halpern, of course, is from Potomac, Maryland, and played 507 games with the Washington Capitals from 1999 to 2006. The former nine-year NHL center began his coaching career in 2015-16 when he joined Tampa Bay’s minor league affiliate and has been with the Lightning since 2018. 

If Halpern is hired by Washington, he would coach three players that were his former teammates in Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson. He would replace Peter Laviolette, who agreed to part ways with the Capitals after this past season as his contract was set to expire. 

General manager Brian MacLellan told reporters last month that he was “open” to hiring a first-time head coach. 

“Our group is changing,” MacLellan said. “We’re trying to get younger. We brought in some younger players. It’s going to be different in that you want a coach that can work with young guys and we’re going to have a veteran group at the top that kind of needs a veteran coach. So it’s going to be a challenge to find the right guy for that. 

“Probably a combination of what we’ve had would be the ideal candidate. I don’t know that we can find it, but we’ll do the best we can.”

The Capitals are free to interview Halpern once they get permission from the Lightning. Tampa Bay was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last week when they lost 4-2 in a best-of-seven series to the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Halpern has been part of a Lightning organization that has been very successful under coach Jon Cooper. 

Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021, and came up short of a three-peat when it lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.

The Capitals, meanwhile, are in search of a coach who can help the team take advantage of Ovechkin’s final years. Washington missed the playoffs this past season for the first time in nine years. And the Capitals haven’t won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. 

Besides Halpern, who recorded an assist on Ovechkin’s first NHL goal, the Capitals have also been linked to former Washington assistant Spencer Carbery. Since 2021, Carbery has been an assistant with the Maple Leafs — who are still in the playoffs.