New York Islanders To Sign Pierrick Dube
According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, the New York Islanders are closing in on a contract with forward Pierrick Dube. Rosner later shared that although he’s awaiting firm information on the contract details, he believes it’ll be a two-way deal and that Dube will report to AHL Bridgeport.
Dube’s connection to the Islanders organization is already clear. In 2017-18, Dube began his first year of junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, when Islanders’ head coach Patrick Roy was a team consultant. Dube spent the next three years with the Remparts, playing under the tutelage of Roy after he was named the head coach and General Manager.
Going undrafted, Dube still made it to the professional ranks toward the end of the 2021-22 season after signing with the ECHL’s Trois-Rivières Lions. He spent a year and a half there before signing an AHL tryout agreement with the Laval Rocket. He performed well, scoring 16 goals and 32 points in 44 games with a +10 rating, leading to a two-way deal with the Washington Capitals the following summer.
He continued his impressive performance in the AHL the next season with the Hershey Bears. Dube finished the campaign with 28 goals and 48 points in 66 games with a +12 rating, good for third on the team in scoring. Additionally, Dube tallied seven goals and 10 points in 17 postseason contests, helping the Bears win the second half of their back-to-back Calder Cup championships.
Outside of helping the Bears win another Calder Cup ring, Dube made his debut in the NHL with the Capitals, going scoreless across three games. He spent the 2024-25 season exclusively with the Bears, finishing with 19 goals and 40 points in 58 games.
Without much NHL interest, Dube headed overseas to join the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk. He began the year scoring seven goals and 14 points in 21 games for Traktor, and was eventually traded to SKA St. Petersburg in a salary dump. He tallied two assists in seven games for St. Petersburg before eventually terminating his contract so he could join the Islanders.
Metropolitan Notes: Fast, Dube, Keller, Martin
The Hurricanes still don’t know whether winger Jesper Fast will be available come opening night, says Cory Lavalette of The Athletic. Fast surprisingly missed all of Carolina’s playoff games after a mysterious late-season neck injury left him in a brace that he was still sporting during exit meetings.
Lavalette points out that the 32-year-old is at least out of the brace, which we know thanks to pictures he was spotted during teammate Sebastian Aho‘s wedding over the summer. But both the player and team were vague about the nature of his injury at the end of the postseason, and there haven’t been any reports about what specific type of neck injury Fast sustained since.
The Swede had just six goals and 19 points in 73 games last year, his worst offensive output since his rookie campaign with the Rangers 10 years ago. His 12:36 average time on ice was also the lowest since then. He’s still a valuable penalty killer with great skating speed, though, and has one season left on his contract at a $2.4MM cap hit.
If he’s not cleared to play by October, it’ll be a significant boon to the chances of prospects Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sörum cracking the opening night roster in his stead.
Other updates from the Metropolitan Division:
- Capitals prospects Pierrick Dube and Antoine Keller are both getting the call to the French national team for this month’s 2026 Winter Olympics qualifiers, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays. Dube, a 23-year-old forward from Lyon, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Caps last summer and made his NHL debut in his first year under contract, posting a +1 rating in three games in a fourth-line role. He had 28 goals and 48 points in 66 games with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who won their second straight Calder Cup in 2024. He last represented France at a major international tournament at the 2020 Division 1B World Juniors. The 19-year-old Keller, meanwhile, will likely serve as France’s third-string goalie. The 2023 seventh-round pick will make his professional debut next season with Switzerland’s Lausanne HC after spending last year in junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. France must win a round-robin tournament with Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine to gain a spot in the next Olympics.
- Longtime Islanders enforcer Matt Martin remains an unrestricted free agent but is fully intent on returning to the club, he tells Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. “I’m focused on playing here, first and foremost,” he said. “We’ll see how things unfold.” A reunion would be a reversal from earlier this month when general manager Lou Lamoriello told Ethan Sears of the New York Post that he was unlikely to re-sign Martin or frequent linemate Cal Clutterbuck. Martin has played 823 of his 955 career NHL games in an Isles uniform, racking up 155 points and 985 PIMs. He was a fifth-round pick of the club back in 2008.
Capitals Reassign Pierrick Dube
The Capitals have returned winger Pierrick Dube to the AHL’s Hershey Bears, per a team release issued Monday. The 23-year-old’s first NHL call-up ends after three games played over the last two weeks.
An undrafted free agent signed by the Caps last summer, Dubé has exploded to lead the league-dominating Bears with 24 goals in 50 games. GM Brian MacLellan nabbed his services with a two-year, entry-level contract worth $1.9MM.
The right-winger played three straight contests to close out February but was a healthy scratch in Washington’s last two games. The French youngster recorded a +1 rating, 2 PIMs, and three shots on goal, averaging 9:20 per game.
Dubé remains waiver-exempt and can be assigned to Hershey at the Capitals’ discretion. Assigning him to the minors leaves them with an open roster spot and $3.74MM in cap space. He’ll likely remain high on the list of call-up options for the Caps down the stretch run should injuries or trades force them to rely on their AHL depth.
He rejoins a Hershey squad that’s torn through the AHL this year with a 41-10-4 record, sitting in first place in the league. However, they’ve dropped their last two games by a score of 1-0 and could sorely use his offense to get back in the win column.
Capitals Recall Pierrick Dubé
The Capitals recalled forward Pierrick Dubé from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Wednesday, per a team announcement.
Dubé, 23, could make his NHL debut against the Lightning on Thursday after Nic Dowd sustained an upper-body injury in last night’s 6-2 win over the Devils. Born in Lyon, France, Dubé signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Washington when free agency opened last July. He went undrafted throughout his junior career with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Shawinigan Cataractes.
The 5-foot-9 winger was a surprise breakout star with the AHL’s Laval Rocket last year, earning an early-season call-up from the ECHL and posting 32 points in 44 games in his first pro season. He’s carried that momentum into a strong campaign with Hershey, leading the AHL’s best team (39-9-2) and defending Calder Cup champions with 24 goals in 50 games.
Dubé becomes the third active French national on an NHL roster, joining Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier and Kraken center Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. He carries Canadian citizenship, having played in their junior circuit since 2014, but played for the local youth team in Lyon. He has represented France internationally at different levels of the U18 and U20 World Juniors.
However, there’s no guarantee that Dubé will draw into the lineup to replace Dowd. The Capitals were already carrying veteran Nicolas Aubé-Kubel as a 13th forward, and he remains an option to play Thursday. Neither player is a natural center, so Beck Malenstyn will likely shift to fill Dowd’s spot as the third-line pivot while head coach Spencer Carbery shuffles his bottom-six wingers.
Dubé’s ELC carries an $870K cap hit, which is of no concern to Washington with Nicklas Bäckström and his $9.2MM cap hit on LTIR for the rest of the season. He will be an RFA upon expiry in 2025.