Capitals’ Leonard, Carbery, and Murray Named to Men’s World Championship Teams

Three members of the Washington Capitals organization will be representing their home nations at the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship this month. Young forward Ryan Leonard will take the ice with the United States, while head coach Spencer Carbery and goaltending coach Scott Murray will be behind the bench for Team Canada.

Leonard’s Success

Leonard had a stellar rookie season. He recorded 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) in 75 games and became the first rookie in franchise history since Alex Ovechkin in 2005-06 to have a 20-goal season. His points total was the most since Niklas Backstrom’s rookie season in 2007-08, and he ranked third across the league’s rookies in power-play points (14) and five-on-five goals (16). He also ranked fifth among his class in goals, assists, and points.

He fit in with the team quickly and brought a level of physicality and grit that opponents did not expect to see from such a young player. He was a pest to play against and will bring that same energy to the World Championship. In his first appearance at the competition in 2024, He had one point in six games. However, Leonard shone bright on the country’s World Junior Championship (WJC) team in back-to-back seasons.

At the 2025 WJC, the forward helped his nation win its second-straight gold medal for the first time in tournament history. He served as team captain and was named tournament MVP and Best Forward. He tallied 10 points (five goals, five assists) in seven games and across his 14 career WJC games, he has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists). He should be a star offensive force at the World Championship.

Carbery and Murray on Staff

Carbery has been phenomenal behind the bench for three seasons and has become a beloved member of the Capitals organization. In his time with the team, he’s earned a 134-83-29 record as well as two playoff appearances. In 2025, he won the Jack Adams award for best NHL coach and is the only person to have won coach of the year awards in the NHL, American Hockey League, and ECHL.

This season, Carbery led the team to a 43-30-9 record and 95 points. The Capitals’ 43 wins were tied for the 10th-most in the league and they also ranked tied for third in points by defensemen with 212, tied for fifth in five-on-five goal differential (plus-32), tied for seventh in goals against per game at 2.90, and tied for fifth in points by rookies with 94. That rookie points total marked their highest single-season total since 2005-06. Carbery will be joining Canada’s head coach, Misha Donskov, as an assistant coach.

Murray finished his ninth season as Washington’s goaltending coach in 2025-26. For the last two seasons, his main focus has been on the continued development of goalie tandem Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson.

He has been wildly successful with these two: Across two seasons, Lindgren has a .886 save percentage (SV%), 3.12 goals against (GAA), and 29 wins as the backup goaltender. Murray’s leadership has been particularly impressive regarding Thompson. In the last two seasons, he has been shaped into the primary goalie and finished with a .911 SV%, a career-best 2.44 GAA, and 62 wins. Murray led the team to sixth in the league in five-on-five SV% in 2025-26 and will be coaching goaltenders Cam Talbot (Detroit Red Wings), Jack Ivankovic (University of Michigan), and Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets) in the tournament.

The 2026 Men’s World Championship takes place from May 15 to 31 in Zürich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast worldwide. In the United States, fans can watch on NHL Network. Canadian fans can tune in on TSN in English or RDS in French. The tournament will also be broadcast on IIHF TV.