The Washington Capitals have officially named Patrick Wellar as an assistant coach, focusing on the team's defensemen. Wellar, a former Capitals draft pick and two-time Calder Cup champion with the Hershey Bears, had been serving in the role on an interim basis since September. The Hershey Bears simultaneously appointed Brent Thompson as their assistant coach.
The Washington Capitals announced the addition of Patrick Wellar to their coaching staff as an assistant coach, with senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick making the official statement. Wellar, 41, from Carrot River, Saskatchewan, will primarily work with the Capitals' defensemen. He joins after seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Capitals' AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, starting in 2018. During his time with Hershey, the team ranked in the top three in the AHL for goals against in four of those seasons, including league lows of 2.33 in 2020-21 and 2.10 in 2023-24. Wellar contributed to three division titles, two Harry 'Hap' Holmes Awards for fewest goals allowed, and back-to-back Calder Cup championships in 2023 and 2024. He also helped secure two Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophies for the best regular-season record in 2020-21 and 2023-24. While with the Bears, Wellar coached current Capitals defensemen Martin Fehérváry and Dylan McIlrath, and worked alongside head coach Spencer Carbery, assistant Scott Allen, and video coach Emily Engel-Natzke.
Prior to Hershey, Wellar was an assistant coach with the ECHL's Reading Royals in 2017-18, where the team posted a 39-24-9-0 record and made the playoffs, and with the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2016-17. He began coaching as a player-assistant with the Utah Grizzlies in 2014-15 and the Alaska Aces in 2015-16.
A third-round pick (77th overall) by the Capitals in the 2002 NHL Draft, Wellar played 12 professional seasons as a defenseman, appearing in 747 games across the AHL and ECHL. He skated in 306 AHL games with teams including Hershey, where he won a Calder Cup in 2010 alongside John Carlson, and played parts of six seasons with the Bears from 2008-14. Wellar also claimed three Kelly Cup titles in the ECHL: with Alaska in 2006, the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, and Reading in 2013.
In a related move, the Hershey Bears named Brent Thompson, 54, from Calgary, Alberta, as their assistant coach, also on an interim basis since September. Thompson spent the last two seasons (2023-25) as an assistant with the Anaheim Ducks. Before that, he was head coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers/Islanders for 10 seasons (2011-12, 2014-23), amassing 328 wins, tied for 18th on the AHL's all-time list. He served as an assistant with the NHL Islanders from 2012-14 and with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen from 2005-09.
Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1989, Thompson played 14 professional seasons, including 635 AHL games. He captained three AHL teams—Providence, Hershey, and Louisville—and received the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the AHL's Man of the Year in 1998-99.