The Capitals have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced that they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off injured reserve. To make room for him on the roster, the team has returned winger Ethen Frank to AHL Hershey.
Dubois wound up missing a little more than two weeks with a lower-body injury that was originally hoped to be a day-to-day issue. Instead, he wound up missing five games. Dubois has been held off the scoresheet in his three appearances this season but is coming off a career season in his first campaign with Washington. Last season, he had 20 goals and 46 assists in 82 games, showing flashes of being the impactful top-six center that made him the third-overall pick in 2016 and led to an eight-year, $68MM contract two years ago.
Dubois will presumably return to a role in Washington’s top six in his return. Hendrix Lapierre skated on the second line last game and is the logical fit to cede his spot to Dubois with Lapierre then returning to the fourth line in place of Frank.
As for Frank, he got into a pair of games with Washington while on recall, picking up an assist in 12:34 per game of ice time. That brings his NHL point total to eight in 26 outings after getting into 24 games with the Caps last season. The 27-year-old also has a pair of goals in two appearances with the Bears in 2025-26 and is a strong candidate to be brought back up whenever the next injury arises up front for the Capitals.