After a full-scale clearing of the house, the Washington Capitals appear to have completed their overhaul of the team’s coaching personnel. Today the organization announced that Kirk Muller and Kenny McCudden would be joining Spencer Carbery and crew behind the bench for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Muller and McCudden are the latest to join the team, following the recent additions of Assistant Coaches Scott Allen and Mitch Love and Video Coach Emily Engel-Natzke.
Kirk Muller is expected to take over an assistant coach role, previously spending the last two years in an associate coach role with the Calgary Flames. Muller brings 17 years of NHL coaching experience to the Capitals organization, including a stint as the Carolina Hurricanes’ head bench boss from 2011 to 2014. In 2019 Muller won a silver medal as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships.
Kenny McCudden will join the team in an assistant/skills coach capacity. McCudden most recently spent eight seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant coach. Prior to his time in Columbus McCudden spent 16 years serving as a skills coach for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, winning a Calder Cup with the team in 2008. Like Muller, McCudden has experience coaching at the international level. From 2011 to 2014, he was the skating and skills coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team and served as a scout for the 2014 silver medal-winning Olympic squad.
In addition to the announcement of two new assistant coaches, the Capitals also made other moves in the coaching personnel line-up. Zack Leddon has been promoted to Head Strength Coach after spending the last five seasons in an assistant role under coach Mark Nemish. Mike Wagner will take over Leddon’s old role as Assistant Strength Coach, joining the team after spending the last seven seasons with the Caps’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
