Adam Oates new capitals head coach.

The Washington Capitals have hired Adam Oates as their new head coach. Oates is, of course, a former Capital. He will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame with this year’s class (more on that to come).

Oates first stepped behind a bench as the assistant coach in Tampa Bay. He was hired after helping the Lightning with training camp in 2009, working on the team’s forwards specifically. By June of 2010, Oates was hired by the New Jersey Devils to be their assistant coach. He worked under three different coaches in his tenure there and helped Peter DeBoer guide the club to a Stanley Cup Final berth in 2012.

“He’s been certainly a credit to us here,” Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said. “He did an outstanding job for us. I wish him well. He’s very communicative, very intelligent, he explains things very well. He has the resume behind him as a player and having the success he had – all the credentials are there for having the kind of respect players have for him.”

Oates played for the Capitals from 1996 to 2002. He holds sixth place all-time in NHL assists and is the oldest NHLer to lead the league in assists in a single season. He is also the player who has accumulated the most career playoff points without hoisting the Stanley Cup, a bittersweet statistic to be sure.

“We are very pleased to name Adam as the new head coach of the Washington Capitals,” said GM George McPhee in a statement. “Adam was a highly intelligent player in the NHL for 19 seasons. He has been an assistant coach in our conference for the past three seasons and is prepared to lead our club as head coach.”

The Blackhawks were also looking at Chicago Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland and Norfolk Admirals head coach Jon Cooper for the post, but Oates edged out the competition in the end.