The Washington Capitals have named Kirk Muller as an assistant coach and Kenny McCudden as an assistant/skills coach, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced Thursday.
Muller and McCudden will join assistant coaches Scott Allen and Mitch Love, goaltending coach Scott Murray, assistant coach/video Brett Leonhardt and video coordinator Emily Engel-Natzke on head coach Spencer Carbery's staff.
Muller, 57, joins Washington after spending the previous two seasons as an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. The Kingston, Ontario native brings 17 years of NHL coaching experience to Washington, which includes two stints with the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant coach (2006-11) and as an associate coach (2016-21) and two seasons with the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach (2014-16). Muller also served as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes (2011-14) and the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals (2011).
Muller was also an assistant coach for Canada at the 2012 and 2019 IIHF World Championships, earning a silver medal in 2019. As a player, he appeared in 1,349 games over 19 NHL seasons with the New Jersey Devils, Montreal, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, recording 959 points. Muller, the second overall pick in the 1984 NHL Draft, won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993.
McCudden, 61, joins the Capitals after spending the last eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets. A Chicago native, McCudden joined the Blue Jackets in 2015 as a skills coach after spending 16 seasons as the skating and skills coach for the AHL's Chicago Wolves. With Chicago, McCudden helped the Wolves advance to the 2005 Calder Cup Finals and capture the Calder Cup championship in 2008.
McCudden has worked with numerous NHL players and prospects as a skills coach and instructed at development camps for the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers. In addition, McCudden served as the skating and skills coach for the United States Women's National Team from 2011-14 and as a scout for the silver medal-winning squad at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.