Washington Capitals Nic Dowd Out, Pierrick Dube recalled from Hershey

Nic Dowd Injury

Washington Capitals’ veteran center Nic Dowd sustained an upper-body injury on Tuesday night as the Capitals faced the Devils at home. Dowd left the bench late in the first period after an earlier high hit from Devils’ forward Timo Meier. He ended the night with just 6:20 TOI. Besides the loss of a talented center, the injury could have an impact on the team as the March 8th trade deadline looms near. Nic Dowd has been a hot topic in trade talks, but any extended injury could throw a wrench in Washington’s potential plans.

The Capitals are traveling to Florida for games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, and Dowd will not be traveling with the team. He is currently day-to-day but will likely be moved to injured reserve as the Capitals have called up winger Patrick Dube from the AHL Hershey Bears. The team is currently working with a full 23-player roster, so the move will have to be made to activate Dube. If Dowd does end up on IR, he will also miss next week’s back-to-back against the Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings. Dowd missed nine games earlier in the season with an upper-body injury as well, but in his 44 games played, he has recorded 16 points and averaged 15:27 TOI, a career-high.

Pierrick Dube

23-year-old Pierrick Dube is a fitting recall for Washington, as he has been having a showstopping season in Hershey. The winger leads the team in scoring with 24 goals in 50 games and holds the title of second-highest scorer in the AHL as a whole. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery had nothing but good things to say about him in Wednesday’s practice, noting that ” [I’ve] seen some highlights and obviously have talked to [Todd Nelson] quite a bit about him. He’s having a fantastic year. First year in the organization, got familiar with him in Training Camp and exhibitions. He went down there and has done a tremendous job. Felt like he had earned the opportunity for this call-up.”

Dube is a former junior linemate of Capitals/Bears player Hendrix Lapierre and previously played in the Montreal Canadiens organization. He was signed to a one-year, entry-level contract in July. If Dube does make his NHL debut on the team’s Florida road trip, he will be just the 13th French-born player in the league. Spencer Carbery indicated that Dube would be staying on the wing and forward Aliaksei Protas will be filling in for Nic Dowd on center. Carbery spoke about this line change, saying, “His game is in a pretty good spot. When it comes to playing center we’ve worked a lot with him on awareness, his feet moving whenever he gets the puck, and some net-front stuff,” and indicated that it’s something he’s had on his mind for a while. Protas has played center a handful of times before, but never for long, so the position will be a true test of his versatility and skills on the ice.

We will see these roster and lineup changes in action as the Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at 7:30 ET.