Dowd making playoff impact for Golden Knights following trade

LAS VEGAS -- When the Vegas Golden Knights considered whom to select from the Los Angeles Kings in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, they narrowed their choices to two players: Nic Dowd and Brayden McNabb.

"I think they took the right guy," Dowd said.

It's hard to argue with that.

The Golden Knights took McNabb. The defenseman helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2023, and he has played 753 games for them in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs combined, more than anyone else in their history.

But they didn't forget about Dowd. They acquired him from the Washington Capitals on March 5, and the center has played a key role in the playoffs.

They lead the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 entering Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN360, SN, TVAS).

"Yeah, it's funny," McNabb said. "Now we've got both, so it worked out."

The story illustrates one of the reasons the Golden Knights have won 67 playoff games, more than any other team since they joined the NHL in 2017-18.

Led by president of hockey operations George McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon, they know how to identify players who help you win at this time of year -- or guys who might develop into that type of player. They never stop monitoring, and they pounce on opportunities when the time is right.

The story also illustrates how an NHL career often isn't a straight line.

At the time of the expansion draft, Dowd was not the player he is today. Selected by Los Angeles in the seventh round (No. 198) of the 2009 NHL Draft, he'd essentially spent four years in college, two seasons in the minors and one in the NHL. He had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 75 games for the Kings in his NHL career.

"I was still a pretty young kid at that time," said Dowd, who was 27 then. "I just remember (Kings general manager) Rob Blake calling me, saying they weren't going to protect me. …

"Who knows? My career may have not worked out as it would have if I hadn't have stayed in L.A."

Dowd didn't last long in L.A. After he had one assist in 16 games in 2017-18, the Kings traded him to the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 7, 2017.

He spent the reason of that season in Vancouver, scored three goals in 40 games and signed with the Capitals as a free agent July 1, 2018 -- right after the Capitals defeated the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

It was in Washington where Dowd established himself as a role player. He had 166 points (79 goals, 87 assists) in 506 games for the Capitals in the regular season, plus six points (four goals, two assists) in 40 games in the playoffs.

"I finally got my way to Washington and was able to kind of build my career there," Dowd said. "But every step of the way was a learning experience, and without those steps, you can't for sure say that I would have ended up back here anyways as the player that I was."

When the Golden Knights won the Cup in 2023, they had a fourth line with a strong identity. Afterward, they needed to build a new one. McCrimmon said they talked about trading for Colton Sissons and Cole Smith last season.

They ended up acquiring Sissons on June 30 and Smith on March 3 in trades with the Nashville Predators.

And then came Dowd.

He had some of the same core attributes he had when they considered selecting him in the expansion draft, only now he was 35, more mature, a veteran.

"When you're looking at a young guy, for me, it's, 'How does he compete? Does he play hard? Does he not back down? Does he have attributes that you can't teach?'" Dowd said. "Because I think, as you build your career in the NHL, you do learn a lot. You learn what's valuable. You learn what's going to keep you in the League, what makes you a valuable player, what gives you more ice time. I think there's just some things that are built into people that aren't built into others."

Dowd now centers an outstanding fourth line with Smith on the left wing and Sissons on the right. Like each of his linemates, he has two goals in the playoffs. He also has won 54.7 percent of his face-offs and been a key part of a penalty-killing unit that has gone 19-for-20, leading Vegas forwards in shorthanded ice time (13:36).

"It's just the little details that you know you're going to get from him," McNabb said. "That's what playoffs is, what it comes down to, the little details."

Late in Game 1 against Anaheim on Monday, Vegas was protecting a 2-1 lead until center Mitch Marner made it 3-1 with six seconds to go. McNabb was on the ice from 17:24 to 19:54 of the third period. Dowd was on the ice from 17:36 to 19:32.

"We've known Nic Dowd for quite a while," McCrimmon said. "He plays hard, and he has tremendous pride in his defensive responsibilities."

You could say the Golden Knights got the right guy twice.