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Washington Capitals: Nic Dowd’s uncertain role

By Zachary Hawke

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 23: Vancouver Canucks' center Nic Dowd (17) during a NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues on March 23, 2018, at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. St. Louis beat Vancouver, 4-1. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 23: Vancouver Canucks' center Nic Dowd (17) during a NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues on March 23, 2018, at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. St. Louis beat Vancouver, 4-1. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /
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The Washington Capitals had an interesting signing on the first day of free agency with depth center Nic Dowd to a one year, league minimum contract.

Nic Dowd has an unclear role to play for the Washington Capitals.

With free agency largely over for the Capitals, and the roster picture becoming clear, there are only a few surprises left to unwrap. Dowd is certainly the most interesting of the Caps prospects as he’s the only newcomer to the organization.

Dowd made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings in the 2015-16 season only mustering five games played. 2016-17 looked better as he laced up for 70 contests and showed some flashes of excellence in the faceoff dot and finished with a respectable 145 hits.

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Most recently he finished 2017-18 playing for both the Kings and the Vancouver Canucks finishing with a solid faceoff win percentage just north of 50 percent.

The obvious reason for the signing was to create competition at the fourth line center position after the departure of Jay Beagle.

Traditionally, the Caps try to fill these utility roles with young players understanding, that while much of their core group is signed long-term, contracts for Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky still loom large in a season.

While Dowd isn’t going to offer the faceoff strength that Beagle brought, there are few players in the league who will.

Beyond faceoffs, we haven’t seen a lot from Dowd yet to make him stand out. He’s not considered a highly aggressive player along the walls, an identity of the fourth line from lasts season’s Caps. While he does lay some lumber, it isn’t a focus of the opponents’ game plan.

He isn’t tested on the penalty kill to any significant extent, which is the biggest loss the Caps are feeling with Beagle gone.

All that said, he still presents a clearer picture than either Travis Boyd or, fellow Hershey Bear, Liam O’Brien.

O’Brien has only played 17 games for the Caps and barely even saw the faceoff dot in that time. Boyd has eight starts and a .500 faceoff win percentage in his 36 attempts last season.

While both players have been pleasantly successful in Hershey it’s unclear if they will transition to the NHL. We know that Dowd is ready to play in the league and we know that he’s at least OK at faceoffs.

It looks like the organization made a great decision to bring in a cheap player for one season while the team evaluates their AHL prospects to fill the depth center role full-time in the years ahead.

With training camp looming this fourth line center battle will be the one to watch.

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The Washington Capitals have some sketchy options to consider at fourth line center. Nic Dowd looks like the day one starter, but with some promising, albeit untested, young prospects nipping at his heels it’s no done deal.

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