Pierre-Luc Dubois played through some serious pain at the end of the Washington Capitals’ 2025-26 season.
In the team’s 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last Saturday, Dubois crashed into the boards behind Pittsburgh’s net as he set Ryan Leonard up for a goal. He left the game due to injury, but then dressed the next night in the Capitals’ home rematch with the Penguins.
“I got hurt against Pittsburgh in the Saturday game,” Dubois said Thursday. “So, I’m still recovering from that one. But, yeah, it was a very frustrating year.
“I fractured my hand, so I’m talking to a doctor tomorrow. So that would be a month-to-two-month thing. Hopefully [no surgery]. I’ll know more tomorrow. But, yeah, just part of the frustrating year.”
After the Capitals were eliminated from playoff contention, Dubois then sat out in the final game of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets in favor of Hendrix Lapierre. He seemed to plan to keep playing through the pain if the Caps had been able to extend their season.
“Yeah, I always wondered, you know, because you always see guys that do it, and you’re like, ‘I wonder if I could do it,'” Dubois said. “It’s not fun, but it’s that time of year. Everybody’s banged up to a certain extent. It hurt, but I’d do it again if I had to.”
The end-of-season injury wrapped up what was the most injury-hampered season of the 27-year-old centerman’s career. Dubois underwent surgery to address injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles on November 7, returning on February 5 after missing 52 games in the first four months of the campaign.
Dubois ended the year playing in just 29 total games, recording 19 points (5g, 14a). Before this year, he had not played fewer than 73 games in any non-COVID-impacted season.
“For me, individually, it was the first time in my career with a serious injury,” Dubois said. “I missed a lot of time. Mentally, it’s never easy. Being on your couch for a month, skating a little bit, and doing the bare minimum in the gym. It wasn’t easy, but like I said before, the training staff helped a lot, the players, the staff keeping me in the loop as much as possible with what was going on around the team. Watching from up top and not being able to compete out there with the guys for that long was tough. But, yeah, a lot of learning this year for sure.”
Now, Dubois will head into a personally unprecedented offseason as his injury will also keep him off Team Canada at the World Championship, a tournament he has played in four prior times. He still isn’t sure how to make the best of his soon-to-be free time.
“I think this is the first time in my career that I haven’t made playoffs and not done World Championships, so I don’t even really know,” Dubois said. “I haven’t put too much thought into it. But yeah, the hand injury now, it’s kind of throwing a wrench in that. But yeah, I got a lot of time to think about it. But I need to have a good offseason and all that.”
The 2025-26 season was only the third year of Dubois’ eight-year contract. The only Capitals players signed for longer than Dubois, whose deal expires after the 2030-31 season, are Jakob Chychrun (through 2032-33) and Martin Fehervary (through 2032-33).
