If there was a doubt about whether the Washington Capitals front office thought this team was a contender or not, the trade deadline answered the question emphatically.
Less than 48 hours before the deadline, Washington sent longtime center Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights for goaltending prospect Jesper Vikman, a 2027 third-round draft pick and a 2029 second-round pick.
“I think I speak for everybody here when I say he’s one of the best teammates that you could ask for,” forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “There’s Nic Dowd, the player, that’s going to be missed, but there’s also Nic Dowd, the person. You can’t really put value on that. That’s going to be missed in this dressing room.”
But that move was a mere tremor compared to the earthquake that rocked the locker room late Thursday night as Washington sent defenseman John Carlson, franchise cornerstone, Stanley Cup champion, assistant captain, and all-around good guy, to the Anaheim Ducks for a first-round draft pick either this year or next and a third-round pick in 2027.
“Obviously with what he’s meant to this organization for 17 years, you don’t replace a guy like that,” center Dylan Strome said the day after the trade. “It’s tough, it’s part of the business. He grew into one of my best friends, if not my best friend on the team.”
“It’s a tough day,” said forward Tom Wilson. “It’s all I’ve ever known, so it’s hard on the team, it’s hard on the individuals, it’s kind of hard on everything when you’ve had a guy like that who’s been here forever.”
From a business and hockey perspective, both moves make a lot of sense. Washington now has 22 picks in the next three drafts, but the cost was emotionally high.
Dowd joined the team the year after it won the Stanley Cup and quickly became an integral part of the lineup, locking down the fourth-line center position and becoming the team’s faceoff specialist. He took the role Jay Beagle played the Cup year.
Carlson will one day have his number in the rafters at Capital One Arena. In 17 years, he is the Caps’ leading defenseman in points (771), goals (166), assists (605), games (1,143), and power-play points (273). While his defense has taken a step back in recent years, he remained an offensive weapon, particularly on the power play, and was one of just three players left on the roster from the championship team.
This also brings up a question no one has wanted to talk about all season: does this mean Alex Ovechkin is going to retire this offseason? Ovi’s contract is up at the end of the year, and he’s been non-committal about next year. If he had any indecision before, this past week might have made things more clear.
Caps lose two big games:
The Caps went 0-2 this past week with losses to Utah on Tuesday night and Boston Saturday afternoon. These were two games they could not afford to lose. As of March 9, Washington is six points behind the Bruins for the last wild card spot and seven points behind division rival Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division.
What’s worse is the way they lost both games. Washington wasted two great goaltending efforts in the 3-2 loss to Utah and the 3-1 loss (with an empty-net goal) against Boston. Columbus is also ahead of the Caps, and every team Washington is chasing has games in hand. It’s getting late early for the guys in red.
Bob Matthews is a 33 year veteran broadcast journalist, spending the last 29 years of his career in Virginia. Bob has covered both news and sports stories and for the last three seasons, the Washington Commanders. He looks forward to continuing to provide coverage to Sportsjourney.com both on the website and through his podcast, The Bob Matthews Show.
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