Spencer Carbery believes his hiring as head coach of the Washington Capitals in 2023 is partly owed to the skills of former Toronto Maple Leafs star forward\u00a0Mitch Marner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two years that I spent [in Toronto], I owe a lot [to him,]\u201d Carbery told ESPN\u2019s Arda Ocal and Greg Wyshynski on an episode of \u201cThe Drop\u201d podcast<\/a> released Monday. \u201cI told [Marner] this after getting the job in Washington, I owe a lot to him as to why I\u2019m an NHL head coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Carbery was an assistant coach with Toronto from 2021-23, running the club\u2019s power play which Marner featured heavily on. The Maple Leafs were the NHL\u2019s best at scoring on the man-advantage in his first year (27.3 percent) and finished behind only the Edmonton Oilers the following season (26.0 percent). Marner assisted on 46 of the team\u2019s 127 power play tallies and scored 15 himself in those years.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did some things that you just can\u2019t coach. You can\u2019t teach,\u201d Carbery praised. \u201cIt\u2019s his individual talent.\u201d<\/p>\n The 43-year-old bench boss won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL\u2019s coach of the year last season with the Eastern Conference-leading Caps and won 91 regular season games in his first two seasons at the helm, a club record. Marner has since departed Toronto, signing an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> as part of a sign-and-trade deal in late June.<\/p>\n