The Capitals will be without Pierre-Luc Dubois to 3-4 months. What's their plan to fill the void?
The Washington Capitals got some tough news on Sunday, as the official timeline for Pierre-Luc Dubois has him slated to return late in the regular season.
All the while, Washington needs to figure out what to do to fill the void, as it's been a challenge so far finding the right fit at second-line center.
"We're just trying to find the combination in our middle six. With Dubois out, it's just been a challenge," coach Spencer Carbery said. "Whether it's (Connor McMichael) in the middle, and (Justin Sourdif, Hendrix Lapierre)."
McMichael's had a tougher start to the season following a breakout season in D.C., as he has just one goal and three assists through 15 games so far. He's currently playing in Dubois' spot on the second line with Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, though that trio hasn't been able to find a spark.
Those struggles are trickling down to the third line, which remains a work-in-progress with neither Sourdif nor Lapierre really able to bust out yet or find the scoresheet in a significant way.
"We're trying to figure out what that's going to look like moving forward, whether Mikey can handle the Dubois sort of role and what our third line looks like. Is it Lappy, is it Sourdif? How do we get Sourdif more involved and more impactful in a game? Those are things that we talk about and look at and dissect and make decisions."
Dubois To Miss 3-4 Months For Capitals After Undergoing Surgery
The Capitals will be without Pierre-Luc Dubois for the next three to four months.
That said, the Capitals are starting out by trying to find the right fit internally, but the trade market may be a route as time goes on if the team can't find its scoring spark. Washington has dropped six of the last seven, and though things don't look terrible on paper at 5-on-5, special teams is a different story, and D.C. can't bust out and score like it was just a season ago.
Dubois could very well go on the long-term injured reserve to open up some space to bring in a forward option, but per the changes in the collective bargaining agreement, teams can only exceed the cap by last season's league average salary if a player is expected back before playoffs, which was $3.817 million last season.
That said, there will be some tough decisions to make going forward.