The Vegas Golden Knights keep buying ahead of the NHL trade deadline, this time bolstering their forward group.
Vegas on Thursday acquired center Nic Dowd from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick, a 2029 second-rounder and young goaltender Jesper Vikman. The move comes several weeks after getting defenseman Rasmus Andersson from Calgary prior to the Olympic break.
Dowd, 35, gives the Golden Knights a penalty killer and shutdown defender down the middle who can also chip in some offense. He has 16 points and 43 blocked shots in 55 games this season.
Dowd is also under contract through next season at a reasonable salary cap hit of $3 million.
Trading Dowd signals the Capitals' intention to at least in part be sellers, sitting four points back of the second and final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference but having played three more games than Boston, which is in that position. Pending unrestricted free agent forward Brandon Duhaime and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk are also trade candidates for Washington.
With roughly 27 hours to go before the deadline, plenty of other teams who declared they're open for business are awaiting more deals. Vincent Trocheck remains with the New York Rangers, and coach Mike Sullivan was noncommittal about whether the center whose name is atop many trade boards would play Thursday night against Toronto.
The Maple Leafs, who are all but certain to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, sat three players Wednesday night for roster management reasons as trade talk heats up: Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
