Washington Capitals Name Ray Bennett Assistant Coach – Hockey Writers – Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals have appointed a replacement for Kirk Muller, their former assistant coach. Ray Bennett has been named to the position, the team announced Thursday. Bennett comes to Washington after just one season with the New York Islanders, where he and Patrick Roy (followed briefly by Peter DeBoer) coached the team to a 43-34-5 record.

Bennett also served as an assistant coach for the Colorado Avalanche for eight seasons alongside Jared Bednar. He won the Stanley Cup with the team in 2022 and played a major role in their success in recent seasons. He brings 25 years of NHL coaching experience to the team, including serving as coach of the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis. Louis Blues.

Some of Bennett’s Experiences

Bennett has also had success outside the league. As a senior/video host for Hockey Canada, she won gold at the IIHF Women’s World Championship and silver at both the 1998 Winter Olympics and the IIHF World Junior Championship. He served as the head coach of Red Deer College from 1995 to 1997.

Bennett also held positions in the Western Hockey League as a scout with the Spokane Chiefs and assistant general manager for the Moose Jaw Warriors. His tenure in the hockey world has included serving on the staff of the World Junior Hockey Championship Association and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association, according to the NHL.

Bennett’s Role with the Officials

Bennett joins the staff of head coach Spencer Carbery and assistant coaches Scott Allen and Patrick Wellar, assistant and skills coach Kenny McCudden, goaltending coach Scott Murray, assistant and video coach Brett Leonhardt, and video coach Emily Engel-Natzke. He is putting together a talented staff that has led the Capitals to success in recent seasons and is working to get the team back on track.

His main task will be to improve the quality of play of the team that struggled last season. With an efficiency of just 17.8%, they sit near the bottom of the rankings at 25th in the league. Special teams underperformance was the reason Washington missed the playoffs for the first time under Carbery’s leadership. They have allowed 11 shorthanded goals this season and have struggled to convert from man to man.

Bennett was hired by the Islanders last season to improve the quality of play, which he did successfully. In the end, however, their hard man gains at the end of the season resulted in them finishing with a 16.5% power play success rate. He had several successful seasons with the Avalanche, but was let go after the team converted just three power plays in 22 chances in the 2025 Playoffs.

The Capitals organization is taking a chance on a successful coach at different levels. Although he has won championships with different hockey organizations, he has had periods of struggle when his leadership did not click with his team. I hope that Bennett will be able to work with the Capitals’ top scorers, such as Jakob Chychrun (eight), Tom Wilson (seven), and Dylan Strome (six), so that they can both improve their performance and learn from their skills and methods to build a strong game for next season.

We could see a shift in power play units, especially as the roster changes this offseason. The team’s top unit last season usually consisted of Chychrun, Wilson, Strome, Ryan Leonard, and Alex Ovechkin. Bennett will come with fresh eyes and new ideas, as well as new players to work with and organize. Capitals fans can only hope he achieves the same level of success he had during his time with the Avalanche.

We can trust that Carbery and the rest of the club’s leadership have sound judgment when it comes to hiring. For example, Murray was very successful as Washington’s goaltending coach, molding Logan Thompson into the league’s best goaltender in just a few seasons. The organization had no qualms about letting Mitch Love go this season after his scandal came to light, proving that character is just as important as talent. Bennett should be a huge asset to the team, and we will see the fruits of his labor in September with the start of training camp.