The Washington Post recalls that over the weekend, Capitals coach Adam Oates described the importance of picking the most complementary assistant coaches as “vital” to his first year as an NHL bench boss. He said whoever was brought in would help him convey his message to players clearly, and hinted that it would be a former teammate as well.
“To have a guy that played in the game that I’ve had some personal time with is very important to me,” Oates said.
On Wednesday, Washington named Calle Johansson as an assistant coach. Johansson, 45, holds the record for most games ever played as a Capital at 983 and spent six seasons as Oates’s teammate.
This will be Johansson’s first coaching position in North America. In 2006-07, he was an assistant coach of Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League. Johansson, who holds franchise records for points (474) and assists (361) by a defenseman, will likely work with the Capitals’ blueliners.
The Capitals now have three members of the 1998 squad that reached the Stanley Cup Final on their coaching staff, as Johansson joins Oates and associate goaltending coach Olie Kolzig.