Trades are and always have been a part of the pro sporting landscape. Hockey is a game, but at the NHL level, it’s also a business. And at their very root, trades are essentially business decisions.
Not all trades are created equally though. Some barely register or are consigned to what the old newspapers set into agate type, and some are blockbusters that come out of nowhere to deliver a jolt. Most fall somewhere between.
Today, the Caps made one of those trades that fall somewhere between. But to many in these parts, today’s news of Nic Dowd being dealt to Vegas packed a wallop.
With Friday’s 3 pm NHL trade deadline looming, Washington was seen as a team on the fence as far as being a buyer or a seller in the hours leading up to the deadline. The Caps woke up on Thursday as one of those mystery teams that could go either way. But before taking the ice for an optional practice session on Thursday, the Caps were stunned to learn that Dowd is off to Sin City in exchange for AHL goaltender Jesper Vikman, Vegas’ second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and San Jose’s third-round choice – previously acquired by Vegas – in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Dowd was in the middle of his eighth season with Washington and he recently surpassed the 500-games plateau in a Caps sweater. Signed as an unrestricted free agent eight summers ago – weeks after Washington hoisted the Stanley Cup in Vegas – Dowd came to the Caps on a one-year deal at what was a League-minimum salary of $650,000 in those days.
In the eight seasons since, the Hunstville, Ala. native gradually built himself into one of the League’s top shutdown/bottom six centers. His offensive production and his ice time both increased almost yearly as his role and his responsibilities grew as well, and as he became a critical part of the fabric of the team and the franchise.
Today, Dowd became the first player not drafted by the Caps to play eight or more seasons here before being traded away since Brooks Laich, who was dealt to Toronto on Feb. 28, 2016, just over a decade ago. Laich had worn a Washington uniform for parts of a dozen seasons when he was moved to the Maple Leafs in a deal for Daniel Winnik.
Today’s trade has some of the Caps thinking back to various games at various points of the season, and games that got away from them, games they could have and should have won, but did not. If one or two or three of those games turn out differently, maybe the Caps are in the playoff picture, and today’s deal doesn’t go down. A right-handed shutdown center who can kill penalties such as Dowd is a valuable postseason piece.
Washington is only four points off the pace for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, but with just 19 games remaining on the season, the Caps also have the shortest runway remaining of any of the playoff contenders.
When players go out the door instead of coming in at the deadline, it’s only natural to look back wistfully at the previous 63 games and some outcomes that could have been different, if only. There were a pair of losses to lowly Vancouver. There were a couple of games in which third period leads slipped away.
For one player, it was Washington’s most recent game, a 3-2 loss to Utah on Tuesday.
“One of my first thoughts coming in this morning when I heard the news was what if we won against Utah?” says Caps forward Hendrix Lapierre. “Would it have been different? You never know. And it makes you think about that stretch in December and January where you’re in the dog days, and you might lose one or two. And when you come in here this morning, it kind of reminds you of that, and what if we won that game against that team, or whatever.
“It sucks; it’s terrible. I think everyone’s on the same page when it comes to that. He was appreciated by everyone. You rethink if you had scored on a certain opportunity. It’s weird to say, but my chance in the slot against Utah, what if I score? And maybe not; maybe the decision was already done. But when you lose a friend like that, it makes you rethink a couple of things.”
Over the last eight years, Dowd – originally a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2009 NHL Draft – gradually turned that one-year “show me” pact into a prosperous NHL career, as he carved out a larger role and grew his game and his career and happily signed three more contract extensions – all for multiple seasons – to stay in the place where he and wife Paige made a home and began their growing family.
Today, as Dowd departed the District, only three teammates – captain Alex Ovechkin and alternate captains John Carlson and Tom Wilson – have been on the Washington roster continuously for longer. And Dowd departs as one of just 34 players in franchise history to play at least 500 games in a Washington sweater, a distinction he achieved earlier this season.
When Caps coach Spencer Carbery held his post-practice media scrum on Thursday morning, he started off by addressing the Dowd deal before he could even be asked about it.
“I’ll just start,” says Carbery. “[It’s a] really difficult day for our organization, our team, players, staff, Nic Dowd being traded after seven years. I spent myself the last three years [with him]. A difficult, difficult decision as an organization, and one that I’m sure was not taken lightly whatsoever, and so it’s a tough day. He has meant a lot to this team, he has meant a lot to this community, him and his family. He's done so much for this team, and a lot of the work and the things that he has done have gone unnoticed, the way that he plays and the role that he plays. So he'll be missed, and it’s just part of one of the unfortunate parts of professional sports and this business, of saying goodbye to good people. And that's part of it.”
Carbery was then asked what kind of player the Golden Knights would be getting.
“He's just such a valuable player in so many different ways,” says Carbery. “And I think that the best way to appreciate Nic Dowd is just to ask his teammates about him. That's the best way, because they will tell you exactly what it means. And when it's all said and done – and I told him this maybe at the end of last year – the difficult assignments and deployment and the penalty kill and all the hard parts of the game that he takes such pride in, and I'm sure is going to do a fantastic job for Vegas. And I [told him], how it relates to [Ovechkin] last season, right?
‘[Ovechkin] what breaks the record, and I said, ‘Dowder, when your career is over, you're going to be able to reflect – and probably no one will talk about it – but you deserve a lot of credit for O's record and what you did for him. And you might go like, Why? You started 275 times in the defensive zone, so Alex Ovechkin could start in the offensive zone tenfold.
“And think of how many goals were scored because of that, because this team and this organization was able to deploy you in the defensive zone consistently and give you a tough Auston Matthews match up, or a Jack Eichel match up. And you not only flourished in that matchup and did such a good job, but you loved it and embraced it and didn't complain and didn't say one iota about not starting or getting an opportunity to start in the offensive zone.’ So yeah, Vegas and the Vegas players will learn to appreciate that.”
Like Carbery said, the best way to appreciate Nic Dowd is to ask his teammates about him. Washington’s post-practice locker room is typically boisterous after a practice, but not today. A noticeable pall permeated the room on Thursday morning, and several of Dowd’s former teammates shared their thoughts on the news.
Dylan Strome
“We’re just thinking about him and his family, and the challenges ahead. He is a guy that's been here obviously my whole time here, and he has been a great friend of mine ever since I first walked in here, and we only got closer throughout my time here. So yeah, it's disappointing to see him go, and to think how valuable he was to our team. This one feels a little different, just because how big of a part he was to our team and how long he's been here. It's hard to process that right now, but he's a great human being, great dad, great family man. The guy spends countless practices after the year taking care of underprivileged kids and kids with disabilities, and he is just a good human being that Vegas is lucky to have. Today is a day where I think it's okay to feel emotions and feel upset; it’s a tough part of the game. But [Friday] we'll get back on the horse and focus in on what we’ve got to do to beat Boston.”
Brandon Duhaime
“I don’t think anyone in the organization feels too good about it. Just an absolute class act and an incredible teammate. I had the privilege of being his teammate for a year and a half, and you see the stuff he does on the ice and how much he helped me on the ice, but just the person he was off the ice and just a lot of valuable life lessons I’ve learned from him. Whether it was the way he carried himself around staff and fans and all that, he just exemplifies exactly what a leader is and what a teammate is, a father, a husband. He just checks all the boxes. And what a privilege it was to be able to take the ice with him.”
Trevor van Riemsdyk
“I don’t think anyone saw that coming. He’s a big part of this team. He does so much for us, all of the little things – [defensive] zone draws, penalty kills. He is the leader in both those aspects, so to lose a guy like that is obviously incredibly sad. He is a great teammate and family man, he does a ton for the community here in DC. It won’t just be the be the people in this room; I think a lot of people will be missing Nic Dowd.”
Charlie Lindgren
“Obviously, it’s really sad. I had the chance now to play with Dowder – this was my fifth year playing with him, my fourth year with the Caps, and one year at St. Cloud – and he is just one of the best guys. He's what this Capitals organization is all about. He couldn't have represented it better. Such a phenomenal guy, phenomenal teammate, and a phenomenal hockey player. He has an amazing family. So, it sucks when you see that, when you hear about it, and you could just feel in the rink today. Guys are really bummed out. It’s tough to lose a guy like that, obviously, you realize pretty quickly it's a business and you’ve got to move forward. But we're going to miss Nic Dowd a ton.”
Hendrix Lapierre
“Obviously, it’s hard. We weren’t expecting it, to be honest with you. You’re never too sure what’s going to happen or what they’re thinking. So yeah, we were really surprised coming in here this morning. Obviously Dowder has been a part of this team for I think seven years now, and he truly embraced what it was to be a Capital. It’s a sad day obviously for us; he was appreciated by everyone and his family was appreciated by everyone. I know he’ll do extremely well in Vegas. He’s incredible, so detailed. Honestly, it’s just a very sad day for the Caps’ organization.”
It’s a sad day for those of us who cover this team, too. There are no bad guys in the Washington room, but few are as analytical and as eloquent at expressing themselves in words, and fewer have traveled the road Dowd traveled to reach the NHL as just the fourth Alabama native – and the first one to score a goal since the 1940s – to ascend to the world’s top hockey League.
Since the very first time I spoke with him in September of 2018, he has been a go-to guy for many of us because he can speak to so many aspects and elements of the game, and he does so earnestly and honestly. He will be missed by us as well.
The NHL trade deadline is a stressful time of year across the League. Some teams are seeking the piece or two that will put them over the top in their quest for a Stanley Cup while others are looking to derive some value from assets that are on the verge of expiring contracts or depreciation, another business term.
Players are on edge, wondering if they and their families might suddenly find themselves on the move. It’s not always obvious which teams are buying and which are selling either, so players are typically hopeful their team is one that is adding rather than subtracting ahead of the deadline.
Today’s Dowd deal would seem to indicate that the Caps are selling, but we’ll see between now and 3 pm Friday what else Washington might have on the fire.
Caps general manager Chris Patrick was able to get a pair of top half of the draft picks for Dowd, which is excellent return for a player who was originally drafted in the seventh round, who signed for the League minimum and who is essentially a self-made player – one of the best in the League at his role and his position – going into the final season of his contract.
This season’s emergence of rookie right-handed center Justin Sourdif – and the play of first-year pro Ilya Protas at AHL Hershey – helped make Dowd expendable, and it would have been hard for Washington to turn down that deal, given its current position in the standings. And once the season is over and the NHL Draft is looming, teams typically become much less reluctant to part with picks, especially in the first three rounds.
So while one can see the “why” of the deal, it will never be easy to say goodbye to a player such as Dowd who exemplifies everything the Caps look for in a player. Great teammate, great human, great dad, great husband, great player.
This season’s deadline is seen as a buyers’ market, and the price for Dowd would seem to back that up. Three years ago when Washington moved Lars Eller to Colorado at the deadline, they got a second-round pick in return. This time around, they got an additional third-round choice, plus the minor league netminder.
Dowd turns 36 in May, and he has one year left on a two-year contract extension he signed last April, the fourth contract he signed with Washington, and the one that finally pushed his salary above that of the player he replaced in Washington – Jay Beagle – seven years earlier.
Beginning with the lockout-truncated 2012-13 season, Beagle was the Caps’ fourth-line center for a span of six seasons – he was a part-timer in the NHL prior to that – and Dowd has been manning the middle of Washington’s fourth or third line since.
Beagle was signed – originally to an AHL level deal with Hershey – as a college free agent, and he spent over a decade with the Washington organization. Dowd was signed as an unrestricted free agent, and the Caps got 977 games worth of yeoman’s work from that duo from the day of Beagle’s NHL debut – Feb. 11, 2009 – to Dowd’s final game on Tuesday against Utah.
Speaking of which, they say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. March is nothing like Nic Dowd. Dowd came to DC as a lion, and he goes out as a lion. Dowd played his final game as a Capital on Tuesday against Utah, and he was credited with 10 hits in that contest, the most he has ever logged in 637 career games in the NHL, the last 506 of which were with Washington.
Vegas picked up a great human, a great player and almost certainly added a few more new temporary Golden Knights fans from this area. All the best from us here in DC to Nic Dowd and his family.
