Nic Dowd Reflects On Road To Becoming A Starter In The NHL

ARLINGTON, Va. — Throughout Nic Dowd’s career, he dreamed of being the top player on an NHL club, whether that was putting up 100 points a season, or taking home some individual awards hardware, he wanted to be a difference maker. When he started playing hockey, however, it seemed like that would be his career trajectory. 

Dowd talked on the Break the Ice Podcast with Mike Vogel last Monday to discuss his hockey journey, but more specifically on how the Huntsville, Ala., native, lacked an understanding of how hard it is to become an NHL player. 

“It was a very windy road. I think the only benefit of being a young kid was being naive of the process. Because when you look at it now, you’re like, ‘Man that was almost insurmountable if someone told you ahead of time what you would have to start over or take a step back,’” Dowd told Vogel. “Very rarely do you just jump level, level, level and then you get to where you want to be right? But for a kid, I mean you have to endure a lot of failure to get to the NHL; especially not being a first rounder, or a blue-chip college recruit.”

When he first started playing hockey, he was putting up elite offensive numbers. In his senior year at Culver Military Academy Prep, he racked up 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists) in 35 games. Then he would get drafted in the 18th round, which was the very last round, of the USHL by the Des Moines Buccaneers. 

But unfortunately, he got cut by the team during the preseason and he would go to the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL. This would end up being one of many forks in the road for the Alabama statesman. 

“I thought my life was over. I almost quit hockey. I got sent down to the North American League to [the St. Louis Bandits] who I was drafted by there, and I kind of unfortunately had a bad attitude, thought I deserved better, I thought that I should be in the USHL and played a lot of poor me,” Dowd told Vogel. 

However, he eventually got traded to the Wenatchee Wild and had a very good year, putting up 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 43 games. That same year, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2009 NHL Draft. 

Where things get even more windy was when Dowd attended St. Cloud State. He was a biomedicine major with the intention of becoming a veterinarian. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a nurse so a degree in the medical field was in his path. 

But once he found out that he would have to stop going to practice in order to attend class, Dowd switched to biology, and still played collegiate hockey for four years and was the captain during his senior season. He was a Hobey Baker finalist that same campaign and would lead the Huskies to an NCHC regular season title. He was also named to the NCHC first all-star squad. 

In fact, Dowd is finishing up his degree and will officially graduate this December. 

After finishing up his college career, Dowd signed a contract with the Manchester Monarchs, which at the time was the AHL affiliate of the Kings. He spent two seasons there and the following year would play five games with Los Angeles but got sent down back to the minors and still struggled to accept that getting to the NHL is a challenge and still tried to be someone he wasn’t. 

We asked Dowd to explain more about his career and more specifically, about being naive of the challenges of getting into an NHL lineup. 

“I think at any point you have to figure out a way to stay and get your foot in the door and then stay [as long as you can]. It’s not necessarily about making my career today, right? Like you want to make your career as long as possible. And in order to do that sometimes you have to change and respond to those situations,” Dowd told NoVaCaps. “I had to figure out a way to stay in the NHL and mine was penalty killing, taking faceoffs and giving myself an opportunity to be the offensive player I want to be. But if you’re not getting in the lineup and staying in the league, you’re never gonna get that chance anyways.”

Though he put up great numbers in the AHL, he could not crack a big-league lineup for sustained periods of time. His first full-time role was with the Kings in the 2016-17 season. He had a decent showing putting up 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 70 games, but had a plus/minus rating of -15. Dowd played just 16 games with LA the following season and was traded to the Vancouver Canucks and tallied three goals in 40 games. 

“At the time I was probably a little immature, wasn’t ready to accept the fact that I needed to change roles to stay in the NHL and I got caught up in thinking I was going to be a certain type of player that I had been my whole career,” Dowd added. “I think that’s the downfall of a lot of players is that they can’t figure out how to stay because they don’t want to change your game, right? They’re stubborn.”

However, it was not until he signed with the Washington Capitals back in 2018, when he realized that he had to change his mindset and be fully committed to the gritty and greasy playstyle of a modern bottom-six player. 

“I just realized that okay, this is where I am right now in my career. If I want to stay, if I want to play in the NHL and live my dream, this is what I’m gonna have to do,” Dowd said. “So that’s what I grabbed onto, and it’s given me an opportunity to do some other things as well.”

Now playing in his sixth season in Washington, the 33-year-old middleman has become the Capitals’ most reliable penalty killer and the go-to guy for important defensive zone faceoffs. Meanwhile, Dowd has become a fan favorite in D.C. and has made his mark on and off the ice.