Frank Servalli linked the Vegas Golden Knights to Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd.

Frank Seravalli linked the Vegas Golden Knights to Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd. 

Dowd is a 33-year-old, 6'2, 196lbs centre. Dowd is a fourth-line centre but holds a ton of value because of his defensive capabilities. He's physical, wins puck battles, kills penalties and is the dream fourth-line centre for almost every NHL team. 

Currently, the Golden Knights have Byron Froese as their fourth-line centre. Even with Jack Eichel returning soon the Golden Knights could look to upgrade that part of the ice. 

Seravalli's case for Dowd to the Golden Knights.

"Currently, Byron Froese – a replacement level player – is occupying the Golden Knights’ 4C slot. There have been injuries and roster chaos, and Vegas is focused on a winger, but they should have some cap room leftover to also improve down the middle."

Dowd is on the IR at the moment with an upper-body injury but practiced today in a non-contact jersey. Dowd averages 15:27 of TOI and is winning faceoffs at 48.9%. Dowd has played in 45 games this year, scoring eight goals and 16 points.

A fourth-line centre doesn't get many offensive opportunities and that proves true with Dowd who only has 45 shots on goal this season, averaging one shot per game. Where Dowd separates himself from other fourth-line centres is his shooting percentage.  He's shooting 17.8% this season and shot 21% last season where he scored 13 goals. Dowd has a shooting percentage of 16.1 since the 2017-18 season when he joined the Capitals. 

Seravalli linked Dowd to multiple playoff contenders. The Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs are the other potential suiters.

Dowd has a cap hit of $1.3M and his contract expires after the 2024-25 season. It's been reported that the Capitals are seeking a first-round pick as a return. Teams will definitely be very hesitant to give up a first-round pick for a fourth-line centre. In similar scenarios, Barclay Goodrow got the Sharks a first-round pick and Anthony Greco from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Goodrow and a third-round pick. 

The Golden Knights will have Mark Stone's $9.5M LTIR money to work with at the trade deadline. They are looking to add a top-six winger and could use the extra cap space to bolster the bottom-six with a player like Dowd. Dowd will give them defensive stability, a penalty-kill specialist and a goal-scoring threat in the bottom six. Dowd's defensive ability could allow Eichel to have shifts where he doesn't have to play against the opposing team's top line, giving the Golden Knights more offensive opportunities.

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