Dowd could be one of the chips the Capitals trade at the deadline.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals know that they could be losing a key member of the lineup in the next couple of days, as Nic Dowd's name is appearing on trade boards across the league.
While it's no surprise to his teammates that he's garnering attention and hype going into the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, they can't help but stress the importance of keeping him on the roster.
"He would be the perfect guy to add for a team that's vying for the Stanley Cup," goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who played with Dowd at St. Cloud State, said matter-of-factly, adding, "It's a credit to the product that he puts on the ice... it's someone I like playing with and I hope he stays here. But it's out of our control at this point."
Since signing with the team in 2018 to replace Jay Beagle, Dowd has played a vital role for the Capitals and has risen to prominence as a top defensive center across the NHL while helping establish one of the league's most powerful fourth lines.
Though he starts the majority of the time in the defensive zone and will often start against other teams' top lines. Still, he will often end up in the offensive zone, and his quick hands and high hockey IQ make him a major threat on the forecheck. He's also the first over the boards on the penalty kill, leading all centers in ice time on the PK (2:32 minutes per game).
"He's a great player. He does all the little things right, he plays really hard, he makes the other team's top lines work for every inch that you get," Trevor van Riemsdyk said. "He's a guy that's been super valuable to us and we know what he brings to our team."
Through 45 games this season, Dowd leads all centers in defensive zone starts at all strengths (518), and he ranks third in goals-for percentage (60 percent) and high-danger goals-for percentage (63.16) at 5-on-5. He has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points.
"He's incredibly important. He's just such a reliable player... as a goalie, you just got 100 percent trust, and you know he's gonna make the right play pretty much every single time," Lindgren said of Dowd. "That's the one thing that's always stuck out with him; you just watch him make these little plays, and it's just like, every time it seems to be the right play to make."
His off-ice presence is just as important. The 33-year-old is a veteran presence and a vocal leader, and he's also a mentor for rising players. Beck Malenstyn is just one player who's thrived while playing with Dowd, as he's embraced a fourth-line role at the NHL level and has excelled with No. 26 as his center.
"He's somebody that I can lean on during games, in between periods, after games, he really likes to break down shifts and things like that," Malenstyn said. "Like you were saying, he has a really clear idea of how he needs to play and wants to play. For me, it's just continuing to learn... there's open communication throughout all of it, little things we want to change and improve on."
Dowd doesn't shy away from making his thoughts heard, either; he'll tell it like it is, something that benefits the team as it makes a playoff push.
The most important thing about Dowd, though, is his consistency; he plays to expectations and will bring the same effort on a nightly basis.
"I strive to go and do the exact same thing every single night and get better," Dowd said. "The foundation of my game, it's pretty simple... every single night, I think that you know, some nights, you're going to have really, really good games and you're not going to show up on the scoresheet and some nights, you're going to have really, really good games and you're going to show up on the scoresheet," Dowd said.
Dowd will not play in the Capitals' final game before the trade deadline as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury sustained on Feb. 20. While his future remains in the air, his teammates are hoping that he ends up sticking around. But now, it's just a matter of waiting and seeing with Dowd.
"He's a great locker room guy, he's obviously a guy that's been in this room for a while now. He was the best captain I had at St. Cloud State and you're gonna see he's kind of carried that attitude forward. He's a leader in his room now and certainly a guy that you know, a lot of guys look up to," Lindgren said.