📸: Katie Adler/RMNB
The Washington Capitals fired assistant coach Mitch Love in October following an NHL investigation into his personal conduct.
According to RG’s Sergey Demidov, Love has found his next job, signing a contract to become the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons’ new head coach on Saturday. The Shanghai-based team, which plays their home games at Saint Petersburg’s SKA Arena, had an opening after former NHL bench boss Gerard Gallant recently departed for health reasons.
Love’s contract is reportedly for the rest of this season and all of next. Dragons assistant coach Mike Kelly has been serving as interim head coach during Gallant’s absence.
Over the past offseason, Love was in the running for several head coaching positions around the league, with reported ties to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, and Seattle Kraken. Before his tenure with the Capitals, Love spent time as head coach of the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers in the AHL.
Per reporting from multiple sources, the NHL and teams interviewing Love received letters containing allegations about Love’s off-ice conduct, sparking the investigation.
Love will join a Dragons team that currently sits in ninth place in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, just outside of a playoff position. After a 2-0 loss to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on Saturday, the team’s next game comes on Tuesday against Spartak Moscow.
Later this season, the club will travel to Shanghai for two KHL regular-season games, facing Sibir Novosibirsk and Barys Astana. They intend to relocate to China permanently next season.