Saturday: Leipsic has cleared waivers, reports Samantha Pell of the Washington Post (Twitter link). That paves the way for the Capitals to officially terminate the contract.
Friday, 10:00am: Just minutes later, the Capitals have announced that they have placed Leipsic on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination.
9:55am: Earlier this week, private messages of a group chat that included Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic and Florida Panthers minor league forward Jack Rodewald were leaked. In the messages, the participants were using misogynistic language that the league immediately condemned, releasing the following statement:
The National Hockey League strongly condemns the misogynistic and reprehensible remarks made by players Brendan Leipsic and Jack Rodewald in a private group chat that has surfaced on social media. There is no place in our League for such statements, attitudes and behavior, no matter the forum. We will address this inexcusable conduct with the clubs and players involved.
Yesterday, Leipsic’s younger brother Jeremy Leipsic–who also took part in the chat– was removed from the University of Manitoba hockey team. Today, it seems as though the Capitals will come to the same decision.
Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic is reporting that the Capitals will terminate the remainder of Leipsic’s contract today. The 25-year old forward is on a one-year, $700K contract for the 2019-20 season. After it is terminated, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Though the Capitals must obviously believe a termination like this is within the rules given Leipsic’s behavior, it wouldn’t be surprising if the transaction is met with a grievance from the NHLPA.
It is not clear what will happen to Rodewald, who is also on a one-year contract but earns just $100K in the Panthers minor league system.
Well clearly all three are pieces of scum.
what an idiot. im usually in favor of protecting people’s rights to free speach but honestly how rude and dumb is it to be fat shaming peoples’ wives in 2020. get a life dude.
am happy to see the league take a stand on this. The kind of talk in a public forum from public figures like athletes can often be part of the social reinforcement that leads to domestic violence, sexual harassment and genrally demeaning women. GIven that women are more than half the population his is not a good idea
The only reason this is happening is because it’s Leipsic. Wilson and others have crossed the line in injuring players and playing without concern of safety and are still employed. I applaud the Caps for doing this… but again it’s only Leipsic.
Not even close to the same situation. There’s absolutely no reason to try and bring guys who play on the line into this
No one will miss either of these slugs.
Free speech means you can say whatever you want.
It doesn’t relieve you of the consequences of what you say.
Good move by the Caps and the U of M to send an unmistakable message.
Go back to the cave losers.
There is zero forgiveness anymore thanks to online bullies. Teams/companies have no choice but to get rid of people after 1 mistake otherwise they’ll get trashed by everyone. We can’t forgive people anymore? Let’s be better all around. Leipsic included
The ridiculously arrogant comments of the people in this thread sickens me. I guarantee every single one of you has made some kind of “politically incorrect” statement in your life. Only difference is you’re not in the public eye and you didn’t get caught. I do not condone people saying racist or misogynistic comments but don’t act like you all have never made a comment like that. Unbelievable the hypocrisy when behind a screen. We’ve all said things we regret a guy said something in a private chat probably thinking he’d never get caught. He’s not out on the streets proclaiming his hatred of fat woman. My guess it’s an inappropriate, off-colour joke which I know I can attest I have said and I’m certain all of you have as well. Get off your high horses already.
Watch your fall, you are sitting pretty high yourself.
That may be true but none of us are making millions to represent an international brand with a public image to uphold.
Thank you for the post, all the sjw try hard coming out of the wood work like they haven’t done the same thing.
Like the Lord Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
Is it sitting on a pedestal to call out guys calling another man “scum” for something we’re all guilty for. Now don’t forget I include myself in this as well. We should be willing to forgive if he apologized since we’ve had grace upon us.
It’s always interesting to see how people react to this kind of stuff. As an above poster mentions, we’ve all said things like this in private conversations with people. I’ve seen, heard and said worse things about people many times though most of the “said” stuff happened when I was around his age or younger. Young guys talk this way all the time and if this kind of stuff makes people flip out, your little heads would probably explode if you heard some of the things said in locker rooms or club houses of any team in any sport.
Furthermore, this was a private conversation that was only made public because someone hacked one of the accounts. How is this cool with anyone? You don’t have to agree with his comments, but I guarantee if many of you had your private conversations recorded either on your phones or in your homes, there would be enough there to make you look just as bad as Leipsic. We all have done or or do it because we’re human beings.
How about people slam Instagram for employing such shoddy security measures? Your instagram account could be next. It’s just one more reason (of MANY) for me to never use social media for anything. We need our privacy and every word we say should not be made public. That goes for everyone and anything including private photos and such.
Wouldn’t this site/comment section be considered social media? Just saying . . .
I do agree with your point however
I see your point. To me, social media are things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and stuff like that. I don’t really put comment sections for blogs or message boards under that umbrella though I’m finding it difficult to articulate why.
I guess it’s because a site like this isn’t about me, you or anyone else on an individual level. We don’t come here to advertise ourselves, post our photos and whatnot with the intention of accumulating followers and friends in some sort of popularity contest. We come here to discuss hockey related news with each other and that’s about it.
I guess technically, you’re correct though.
Please ,for the love of God,please find James Dolan involved. The virus didn’t even slow him down.
As long as they are paying his full salary, the Caps can do whatever they want with him.
If they are not, Fehr and the PA have to fight it tooth and nail. The NHL has collectively bargained guaranteed contracts. UNLESS, they can be voided for just about anything and then, they don’t.
PS- Ted Leonsis should wear a shirt that says “No (guys who mock) fat chicks allowed” for the irony.
Though I don’t understand why any famous person would put their career in jeopordy by even being on social media knowing how every word you say can be parsed by busy bodies, I agree with the above posters who have pointed out the hypocrisy of those condeming Leipsic.
Everyone of those getting up on their high horse pronouncing judgement on Leipsic has done as bad or worse. Maybe in their minds the object of their insults was worthy of being insulted, but that’s a very subjective area.
As the Good Book says “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”.