Report: Golden Knights expected to acquire Nic Dowd from Capitals
The Vegas Golden Knights continue to solidify their depth, as they’re expected to spin a move to bring in center Nic Dowd from the Washington Capitals, as first reported by The Fourth Period insider David Pagnotta.
Washington is trading Nic Dowd to Vegas
TSN’s Darren Dreger also confirmed the Golden Knights and Capitals are in discussion for Dowd, but the deal hasn’t crossed the finish line at this point.
At this point in time, the return for Dowd is not confirmed. Other details of the trade will be updated as they become available.
This is a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, as Dowd was not featured on Daily Faceoff’s trade board, and the Capitals weren’t expected to be sellers considering they’re still in the heat of the playoff race, sitting four points behind the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot in the standings. Dowd also isn’t a pending unrestricted free agent, as he has one year remaining after this season on his two-year contract with a $3 million cap hit.
In Dowd, the Golden Knights get a center who can play in their bottom six who excels defensively and can kill penalties. Not only has Vegas been looking for a center who can play in that role since they dealt Nicolas Roy to the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer to make room for Mitch Marner’s $12 million cap hit, but they needed an additional center on their depth chart, as William Karlsson has missed most of the season with a lower-body injury.
Dowd has produced at his usual rate this season, as he has four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 55 games this season.
Dowd’s defensive game has slipped a bit this season from the higher end level it’s usually been, as he has just a -0.033 5v5 regularized adjusted plus-minus expected goals against per 60 minutes. But he’s normally been one of the game’s best, with his -0.163 rate in the previous four seasons ranking 18th among forwards.