Brendan Leipsic

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Capitals set to terminate Leipsic’s contract following social media comments

By Sean LeahyMay 8, 2020, 11:07 AM EDT

(UPDATE: Leipsic has cleared waivers and his contract has been terminated.)

When the Capitals resume playing, Brendan Leipsic will not be part of the team.

The team announced on Friday that they have placed Leipsic on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract after comments he made on social media were leaked. The 25-year-old forward signed a one-year, $700,000 deal signed in July..

A Instagram group chat which featured Leipsic, Panthers prospect Jack Rodewald and others surfaced online this week and showed them making inappropriate comments about the appearances of Tanner Pearson‘s wife, Meaghan, and Connor McDavid‘s girlfriend, Lauren Kyle, and other women. He also made disparaging comments about current and former teammates.

Leipsic released an apology via his Twitter account Wednesday night:

“Yesterday my friend’s Instagram account was hacked and an individual circulated images that are representative of private conversations I was a part of,” he wrote. “I fully recognize how inappropriate and offensive these comments are and sincerely apologize to everyone for my actions. I am committed to learning from this and becoming a better person by taking time to determine how to move forward in an accountable, meaningful way. I am truly sorry.”

Chloe Giesbrecht and another women who did not want to give her name spoke with Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun about the comments.

“If people keep practising that, this is just going to be a continuous cycle of these group chats and this misogynistic hockey culture,” Giesbrecht said. “If people keep dismissing it, sexual assault is going to go up. All of that is going to skyrocket. They need more than just a slap on the wrist, which is what I’m worried they’re going to get. I would like to see all of their sports careers gone.”

On Thursday, Leipsic’s brother, Jeremey, was kicked off the University of Manitoba hockey team for his part in the lewd group chat.

The NHL condemned the “misogynistic and reprehensible remarks” in their own statement.

“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.”

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

NHL condemns Leipsic, Rodewald for ‘misogynistic,’ ‘reprehensible’ comments

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By Sean LeahyMay 7, 2020, 9:02 AM EDT

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(UPDATE: Leipsic has been waived with the purpose of terminating his contract.)

Brendan Leipsic of the Capitals has apologized for comments made on social media that were leaked online Wednesday. Panthers prospect Jack Rodewald was also in the Instagram group chat where remarks were made about the appearances of Meaghan Pearson, whose husband, Tanner, plays for the Canucks, Lauren Kyle, the girlfriend of Oilers forward Connor McDavid, and other women.

“Yesterday my friend’s Instagram account was hacked and an individual circulated images that are representative of private conversations I was a part of,” Leipsic wrote in an apology note posted on Twitter. “I fully recognize how inappropriate and offensive these comments are and sincerely apologize to everyone for my actions. I am committed to learning from this and becoming a better person by taking time to determine how to move forward in an accountable, meaningful way. I am truly sorry.”

The NHL released a statement of their own stating they will address this with the players involved.

“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.”

Leipsic, who has played 61 games with the Capitals this season, is on his fifth team in five years since entering the NHL. His current team wrote in a statement, “We are aware of the unacceptable and offensive comments made by Brendan Leipsic in a private conversation on social media. We will handle this matter internally.”

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Long-term outlook for Washington Capitals: Key cap questions coming

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By James O'BrienApr 29, 2020, 5:23 PM EDT

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With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to review where each NHL team stands at this moment until the season resumes. Here we take a look at the long-term outlook for the Washington Capitals.

Pending Free Agents

The Core

Barring two very big names (which we’ll discuss in the next section), the Capitals have a lot of their name-brand players signed long-term.

It remains to be seen if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon how each integral player ages. Nicklas Backstrom is already 32, making a five-year extension with a $9.2M AAV pretty scary. Looking at other players with term, T.J. Oshie is 33, Lars Eller is 30, and John Carlson is 30.

Of course, Carlson looks like a steal at $8M so far, and those players have aged like fine wine — at least at this point.

If this group sustains reasonably well as they hit 30 and beyond, then the Capitals should be able to put puzzle pieces together to compete. At some point, you’d expect the run of division titles to end. Then again, like Alex Ovechkin scoring all of the goals, it just seems to keep happening.

Long-term needs for Capitals

I hesitated ever so slightly to put Ovechkin in the core section because, frankly, his future is a little bit unsettled.

The 34-year-old sees what felt like a lifetime contract end after 2020-21. Will the Capitals ask Ovechkin to take a pay cut from $9.54M? Would Ovechkin demand even more money? He’d certainly have options in the hard-to-imagine scenario where the situation gets sticky.

But there are certainly a number of scenarios where this plays out poorly for the Capitals and/or Ovechkin. Including if he stays, but steeply declines with an aging team.

The Capitals also need to settle their situation in net. It’s difficult to shake the impression that pending UFA Braden Holtby might be out. The 30-year-old’s best chance at a big payday likely lies somewhere other than D.C.

I mean … I think. The Capitals have shown an eagerness to keep key players together, sometimes producing some surprises. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Backstrom, and I also was mildly surprised when they brought Oshie back. None of this is to say that the moves were foolish; it’s just sometimes difficult to tell when a team might make the painful, cap-forced decision to let a cherished player walk away.

Because the danger is that the Capitals might squeeze out a much-needed injection of youth if they try to wrangle everyone. At his current trajectory, 24-year-old Jakub Vrana sure looks like he’ll be in line for a massive raise from $3.35M after 2020-21.

Letting Holtby go — and maybe getting lucky to shake loose a problem contract to Seattle — might be key in replenishing the ranks.

The Capitals either need to get creative to stay younger, or they might need to search for the Fountain of Youth.

Long-term strengths for Capitals

No doubt about it, the aging curve worries me for Washington. That said, it might not be ominous at the “guillotine hanging over your head” level.

For one thing, players like Backstrom could conceivably age well. He distinguishes himself as much for his hockey IQ as he does for his talent, so maybe Backstrom will parallel, say, Patrice Bergeron over the years.

Ilya Samsonov also represents a possible solution. He could end up being better than Holtby going forward, and as a 23-year-old who would be an RFA after 2020-21, the Capitals may also be able to extend Samsonov for a team-friendly price.

OK, the Capitals might be forced into such a scenario by cap realities. But, when you look at, say, the Blue Jackets waving goodbye to Sergei Bobrovsky and getting a better deal with young, cheap netminders, it’s certainly not a given that Washington won’t come out of the situation as winners.

In all honesty, Capitals management has earned a solid level of trust.

Yes, the Capitals’ farm system isn’t the greatest, as Scott Wheeler ranked it 29th back in January (sub required).

But considering how infrequently they’ve picked even as high as the teens in drafts, they’ve been able to unearth some gems here and there. And Brian MacLellan isn’t even trading them away as perilously as the Capitals once did with Filip Forsberg.

My guess is that the “bill is coming” for years of win-now approaches, so maybe that shrewdness will only go so far. Still, this franchise has consistently found ways to stay in the picture, and there’s some reason to believe that the party might go a few years longer.

MORE ON THE CAPITALS:

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

WATCH LIVE: Capitals host Penguins on NBC

By Sean LeahyFeb 2, 2020, 12:00 PM EST

NBC’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The top two teams in the Metro Division meet for the first time this season, both coming in off wins on Friday night. This is the latest date of a “first meeting” between these clubs in a non-shortened season. Sunday’s game is exactly four months since opening night of the NHL season.

Pittsburgh heads to D.C. following an OT win over their cross-state rival Flyers on Friday. After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Pens scored 3 straight goals to take a 3-1 lead before allowing Philadelphia to come back and tie the game at three. In overtime, captain Sidney Crosby came through with the game-winning goal just 55 seconds into the extra period.

As for the Capitals, they’ll return home after a 5-3 win in Ottawa on Friday. After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead thanks goals from T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington was able to keep the Senators at bay despite Ottawa cutting the lead to one goal on three separate occasions. The Caps have now won five of their last six games (5-1-0).

Alex Ovechkin continued his goal-scoring tear on Friday, scoring twice more to pass Mark Messier for eighth on the all-time goal list. Ovechkin now has 695 goals, five away from becoming just the eighth player in NHL history to reach 700 career goals. Ovechkin now needs 200 goals to pass Wayne Gretzky for most in NHL history.

Ovi has been incredible in recent weeks, scoring 11 goals over his last five games. He had eight in the final three games before the bye week and All-Star break. Then, after serving his 1-game suspension for skipping the All-Star Game, he has come back with three goals in the last two games. His 13 goals in January led the NHL for the month.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 12:30 P.M. ET ON NBC]

WHAT: Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals
WHERE: Capital One Arena
WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 2, 12:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Penguins-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

PENGUINS
Jared McCann – Sidney Crosby – Dominik Simon
Bryan Rust – Evgeni Malkin – Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brandon Tanev
Alex Galchenyuk – Andrew Agozzino – Anthony Angello

Jack Johnson – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – John Marino
Chad Ruhwedel – Justin Schultz

Starting goalie: Matt Murray

CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin – Lars Eller – Richard Panik
Brendan Leipsic – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway

Michal Kempny – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Jonas Siegenthaler – Radko Gudas

Starting goalie: Ilya Samsonov

Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher will have the call from Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Sunday’s studio coverage on NBC will be hosted by Liam McHugh with analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury.

Predators vs. Capitals livestream: How to watch Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sean LeahyJan 29, 2020, 6:30 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with the Wednesday Night Hockey matchup between the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Washington entered its bye week on a 3-game win streak and came out of All-Star Weekend with a 4-2 victory at Montreal on Monday, without captain Alex Ovechkin, and continues to pace the NHL with 73 points through 50 games. Nashville also had its bye week lead directly into All-Star Weekend and the Central-Division bottom-dwellers lost on Monday against Toronto, 5-2, for its third loss in the last four games.

Despite pulling up the rear in their division, the Predators are only six points out of the Wild Card as they look to continue their playoff appearance streak – which is the longest active in the Western Conference. Nashville’s current playoff streak started in recently fired Peter Laviolette’s first season at the helm after the Predators did not renew Barry Trotz’s contract after the 2013-14 season.

After sitting out Monday due to a league-imposed one-game suspension for opting to skip All-Star Weekend (Ovechkin was voted by the fans as an All-Star captain), the 34-year-old will return as he looks to build upon his goal total, which is up to 34 this season (third in NHL).

Despite leading Nashville to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons, the sluggish start to the 2019-20 season was enough for the Predators to move on from Peter Laviolette, their second-ever head coach, and bring in John Hynes, whose head coaching experience consisted of leading the Devils for four-plus seasons (2015-16 to 2019-20) before being fired on December third after New Jersey lost 17 of its first 26 games.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

WHAT: Nashville Predators at Washington Capitals
WHERE: Capital One Arena
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Predators-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

PREDATORS
Calle Jarnkrok – Ryan Johansen – Austin Watson
Filip Forsberg – Matt Duchene – Mikael Granlund
Rocco Grimaldi – Nick Bonino – Viktor Arvidsson
Colin Blackwell – Kyle Turris – Craig Smith

Roman Josi – Yannick Weber
Mattias Ekholm – Dante Fabbro
Dan Hamhuis – Jarred Tinordi

Starting goalie: Juuse Saros

Michal Kempny – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Jonas Siegenthaler – Radko Gudas

Starting goalie: Braden Holtby

Liam McHugh will host Wednesday’s coverage on NHL Live alongside analysts Anson Carter and Keith Jones and NHL insider Bob McKenzie. Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties for Caps-Preds on Wednesday Night Hockey alongside analyst Mike Milbury and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Brian Boucher from Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.