Pierre-Luc Dubois will miss a fourth straight game due to illness on Saturday.
During Spencer Carbery’s pregame chat with media, the Washington Capitals head coach confirmed that the team’s star center would miss Saturday’s matinee matchup against the New Jersey Devils with the bug, joining Justin Sourdif and Matt Roy out of the lineup. The team also recalled Jonny Brodzinski from the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
“I saw him this morning at the facility,” Carbery said of Dubois. “So, that’s a positive step. He’s back in the facility, and so we’ll go from there. The next step would be — I think he was hopping on the ice, actually, this morning. I left before (Capitals skills coach) Kenny (McCudden) had the injured guys on the ice, so I didn’t physically see him skate, but I think the plan was for him to skate, and then we’ll get him back into practice as soon as we can.”
To make room for Brodzinski on the 23-man active roster, the Capitals placed Dubois on injured reserve, paving the way for the former New York Rangers forward to replace the sick Sourdif in the lineup with no additional ramifications.
Under NHL rules, players placed on injured reserve must be sidelined for a minimum of seven days before becoming eligible to return. However, the designation can be made retroactive to the date of the player’s injury or illness, meaning time already missed counts toward the required absence.
Dubois missed his first game on Sunday, October 11, so he would be eligible to return beginning tomorrow. The team’s next game is on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Dubois had gotten off to a strong start before falling ill, recording four points (1g, 3a) in his first four games, including two multi-point performances. The 28-year-old center’s stay on injured reserve comes after injuries limited him to just 29 games in 2025–26.
