Nic Dowd is a physical, dependable, easy-to-like, fourth-line grinder with some offensive upside. Now where have we seen that before?

By the Numbers

Visualization by HockeyViz

About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows lots of information for the player over the season. A short description of each chart:

• Most common teammates during 5-on-5
• Ice time per game, split up by game state
• 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
• 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
• Individual scoring events by the player
• 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts

Fan Happiness Survey

About this visualization: At three times during the season, RMNB shared an open survey with fans, asking the following question for each player:

On a scale from 1 to 5, how HAPPY are you to have this player on the team?

1 means VERY UNHAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM
2 means UNHAPPY
3 means NEITHER HAPPY NOR UNHAPPY
4 means HAPPY
5 means VERY HAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM

The numbers above show the average score for the player in each survey period.

Exit Interview

Peter’s Take

Once again, the Washington Capitals had one of the best fourth lines in the league. In its various incarnations, the fourth line controlled 52.4 percent of shot attempts, 53.6 percent of expected goals, and 68.6 nice percent of actual goals (24 for Washington, 11 for opponents).

The twin hearts of that fourth line are Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd, and here’s how they did with various thirds.

We will talk about Hathaway soon (Wednesday, June 01), but I think it’ll suffice to say for now that the Capitals have excellent stability among their depth forwards. Hathaway will be paid $1.5M next season, when his contract will expire in UFA status. Meanwhile, Dowd’s contract extension kicks in next season, pulling in $1.3M until the summer of 2025.

There is very little for us or the team to worry about on the fourth line. They have a thankless job — eating a ton of defensive zone starts and tough minutes against very good opposition. Sean Couturier, Kirill Kaprizov, Joe Pavelski, Dylan Larkin, Anze Kopiutar, Brady Tkatchuk, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Marchessault, Patrick Kane — they were all put on their heels by Dowd in head-to-head matchups. That’s not to say Dowd is better than those players, but he is undoubtedly above-average shutdown forward, a role Washington desperately needed.

Dowd’s great. I hope the Caps explore extending his buddy Hathaway, and I hope they find another great partner like Hagelin or Larsson for them next season.

According to Orson Welles

Judy on RMNB

• Teaching little Louie how to skate.

• Dowd suffered a lower-body injury in October. The injury lingered for a while. He was put on LTIR in early November and returned to play three days later.
• It didn’t last long, Dowd had another lower-body injury within a week. He finally came back, like for real on November 20.
• A few days after that, the Caps extended Dowd to a three-year deal.
• On the Caps: “This is a great spot to play. I’ve been around a couple other organizations – both good organizations – but this has definitely been home. My wife loves it, we love it.”
• Dowd went on COVID protocol for a moment on December 3.
• Dowd got injured for the last time following a hit on March 19. He returned six days later.
• Dowd, in December, on protecting a lead against Florida: “I think we have had some times in the past where we’ve sat back a little bit. I hate to say our team gets bored but when we’re up by three goals in Florida. I think the biggest thing is we have to play with jam throughout the entire game.” Oh dear.
• “Bradley Cooper, Junior“
• Dowd would rather give away a puck than have long hair again.
• Tom Wilson traded a puck for a dog toy then gave the dog toy to Dowd.
• Finally, here’s Sidney Crosby suckerpunching Dowd.

#ALLCAPS Crosby punches Dowd. to me this should be more than a 2 minute minor pic.twitter.com/bQOTFlt2Vv

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) April 9, 2022

Your Turn

Is there anything to dislike about Nic Dowd?

Read more: Japers Rink