- David Carle lands on NHL coaching shortlists every offseason and keeps staying at Denver
- The Pioneers coach says the rumors are a sign the program is doing something right
- Read below for Carle’s full answer on the NHL noise and what he’s building at Denver
David Carle has stopped letting the NHL coaching rumors get to him.
The Denver head coach joined Morning Cuppa Hockey this week, where former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen asked him what it’s like being the name every fan base pencils in the second a job opens up. Carle didn’t dance around it.
“The noise is the noise. I think it’s a good thing that it’s there because it means that we’re doing some good things here at Denver. And I think it comes with the territory when you win to the level that we have over the last 5-8 years.”
Carle brought up the guy who had the office before him. Jim Montgomery coached Denver to a national title in 2017 and left for the Stars a year later, so the assumption around the program is that Carle is on the same track.
He explained where his head is at instead:
“For me, it’s just trying to stay two feet where you are and learn about different opportunities that come your way. But I’m very happy. I’ve stated that many times with what we have going on here at Denver, what we’re trying to build. It’s more than just a hockey team or season to season. We’re trying to really build something for the long term. We’ve made a lot of progress over the last 4-5 years, but, we’re not done yet.”
Catch the full sit-down with Lazarus and Cohen here:
His resume explains why the phone keeps ringing. Carle has won three national championships in eight seasons behind the Denver bench, the latest coming in April when the Pioneers beat Wisconsin 2-1 in Las Vegas for the program’s record 11th title.
He’s 179-74-17 as a head coach, the best winning percentage in school history, and he coached the United States to back-to-back World Junior golds in 2024 and 2025. All of that at 36 years old.
Toronto is the market that has chased him hardest. Chris Johnston shot down the Leafs connection back in the spring, and we covered why there was no smoke to those Carle-Leafs rumors at the time.
Recruiting came up too. Carle went after the college calendar in the same conversation, arguing that programs have no business scouting kids that young.
Denver opens the 2026-27 season as the defending champion, which means the shortlists will get longer, not shorter.
