Capitals place veteran forward on IR, recall former first-round pick

The Washington Capitals have placed forward Nic Dowd on injured reserved and recalled 2020 first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre from the Hershey Bears, the team announced Sunday. Dowd has been out since the team’s October 18 game with an upper-body injury and will now miss an additional week of action, at least.

While Washington was able to fill in for Dowd’s injury, it is also anticipating Sonny Milano to miss action with illness. This means the team will need to recall one more forward to ice a full lineup, as it's not currently carrying any extra forwards. One possible option for this recall could be top prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko, who garnered a lot of attention during Washington’s training camp but narrowly missed the mark for the roster. He has five points through his first seven career AHL games.

Lapierre’s recall is an enticing one for Capitals fans anticipating what the former 22nd-overall selection could become. His only NHL action came in the 2021-22 season when he played six games and scored one goal. Last season was his first full year of professional hockey, with the winger netting 15 goals and 30 points in 60 regular season games and three goals and six points in 20 playoff games. Lapierre has three points in six AHL games this year, continuing his modest minor-league scoring.

Aliaksei Protas has slotted into the lineup in place of Dowd, recording one assist in six NHL games while averaging just shy of nine minutes of ice time. The 22-year-old forward was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft and has 97 career NHL Games under his belt, with 25 career points.