The Washington Capitals have traded center Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights for goaltended Jesper Vikman and a pair of future draft picks: a third-round pick in 2027 and second-round pick in 2029.
A bit of a shocker perhaps as Dowd, 35, has four goals and 12 assists in 55 games this season, his eighth in DC, and he just re-signed on a two-year, $6 million deal last April. Now, Vegas will have him under control for next season at $3 million.
The Capitals have not announced who will replace Dowd on their active roster, and they now have two potential open spots on the gameday forward group after Aliaksei Protas missed Tuesday’s game with Utah on paternity watch.
Hendrix Lapierre played Tuesday’s game in Protas’ place with Spencer Carbery shuffling lines, and it’s possible/likely that Lapierre will remain active for Saturday’s game with Boston, with Ethen Frank moving back to center and a call-up from AHL Hershey filling Dowd’s spot until Protas returns.
Vikman, 23, was Vegas’ fifth-round pick in 2020 and has played 18 games with AHL Henderson this season, going 8-7-3 with a 3.41 GAA and .866 save percentage. He will be a restricted free agent this summer after finishing his three-year entry-level contract.
Washington has 19 games remaining and entered Thursday four points behind the Bruins for the second Wild Card spot in the East and six points behind the Islanders for third place in the Metro, with Columbus one point ahead of them for both spots.