The Washington Capitals met up with an old friend on their western road trip this week.
Nic Dowd stopped by the Capitals’ practice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, visiting with his former teammates for the first time since Washington traded him to the Golden Knights earlier this month.
The Capitals posted photos of the reunion on social media, showing Dowd talking to Rasmus Sandin, Charlie Lindgren, and Logan Thompson in the arena hallways.
After beating the Utah Mammoth on Thursday, the Caps took a late-night flight to Vegas, where they held practice on Friday afternoon. While the Golden Knights usually skate at their practice facility 20 minutes away, they instead took their annual team photo at the arena on Friday, allowing Dowd to drop by Washington’s practice.
“It’s good to see the guys. just from a non-hockey standpoint,” Dowd told Vegas reporters on Friday. “It’s good to see them. I’ve been with some of those guys for eight years and known some of those guys for longer, so nice to see familiar faces.”
Dowd played with the Capitals from 2018 to 2026, serving as a top defensive center on the team’s fourth line. In 506 games for DC, he tallied 166 total points (79 goals, 87 assists).
Washington traded Dowd — then its fourth-longest-tenured player — to the Golden Knights on March 5 as the team’s playoff hopes faded, receiving prospect goaltender Jesper Vikman, a 2027 third-round draft pick, and a 2029 second-round draft pick in return. Losing Dowd dealt a major blow to the Caps’ locker-room morale, one that only compounded when Washington dealt 17-year vet John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks less than 24 hours later.
The trade also came as a surprise to Dowd. He said Friday that the “shock value” of the move has since worn off, but he still feels the aftershocks of the trade three weeks later.
“Emotionally, it’s still challenging on the daily,” he said with a wry grin. “We had to officially withdraw (my son) Louie from school this morning, so that tugs at your heartstrings a little bit.”
As difficult as the trade may have been, Dowd praised his new club for its warm welcome in the desert.
“All in all, the (Golden Knights) organization has been incredible,” he said. “From how challenging and logistically challenging and emotionally challenging it was to pick up our life and move in, like, 24 hours, Vegas has done an incredible job of trying to make that transition as smooth as possible.
“And the team has been full of great guys, too, really accepting guys. I played (against) a lot of these guys over the course of my career, and I’m sure we all exchanged words at some point. And the guys have been really happy to help out, reached out before I even came here. Their wives have reached out. So as hard as it’s been, it probably could have been a lot more challenging without the help of my teammates and the Vegas staff.”
With the most difficult part of the adjustment behind him, Dowd is set to face face his former team when the Capitals and Golden Knights go toe-to-toe on Saturday. What keys to victory can Dowd offer from his time in Washington?
“I can’t give that to you,” he joked. “Then you guys will share that with them and (they’ll) change their stuff… Honestly, from a hockey standpoint, we have to make them defend just like any other team. The more time we spend in the O-Zone and create more opportunities, make Thommer (Logan Thompson) not see a lot of pucks, I think we’ll have a good chance of winning that hockey game.”
Dowd has played 11 games for the Golden Knights since the trade, where he’s slotted into his familiar fourth-line role. With a year remaining on his contract, the Dowd family will stick around in Vegas for at least the near future, and Saturday’s game marks just another step in the transition.
“Now we’re here, we’re settled,” Dowd said. “We got our kids into sports. We’re trying to settle in as much as possible. So I think tomorrow will be business as usual, try and use all my secrets against them and see if I can push in the right direction.”
