- Tom Wilson says Pierre-Luc Dubois is the fittest he has seen him after an injury-wrecked season
- Dubois played just 29 games last year and needed surgery in November for abdominal and adductor problems
- Read below for Dubois on his new line with Wilson and Alex Tuch, plus what Spencer Carbery said about having him back
Pierre-Luc Dubois looks like a different player at Capitals camp, and his linemate is the one saying it.
Tom Wilson spoke to the media Friday about the shape Dubois showed up in after a season that fell apart on him.
“I think he looks phenomenal. He had an injury last year that affected his game. Right now, he’s probably the fittest. He was the best skating player on our team on the ice (Thursday), at least it looked like. So, I know he’s hungry. He wants to make some noise this year.”
Washington opened camp Thursday with a conditioning skate that left a good chunk of the roster on its hands and knees. Dubois was out front for all of it.
He was not buying his own performance.
“I did not feel good, no,” Dubois said. “Maybe I hid it well.”
Catch Dubois on what it feels like to be healthy again:
The 28-year-old center got into 29 games last season. Abdominal and adductor injuries grabbed him late in last year’s camp and led to surgery on Nov. 7, which wiped out more than three months.
Then he fractured his hand crashing into the end boards in Washington’s 80th game. He finished the year having missed 53 of them.
The Capitals fell to 95 points and finished three behind the Flyers for the last Metropolitan Division playoff spot. Dubois said the empty months gave him plenty of time to sit with it.
“I missed a lot of time last year. Not making the playoffs, you have a lot of time. Missing 50-something games, you get a lot of time too to just think and be excited to get back out there.”
Spencer Carbery has him centering Alex Tuch and Wilson through the first two days, a line that is 6-foot-4 across the board. Dubois was asked what standing between those two is like.
“Sometimes when I’m standing out there, I feel small. But ‘Tucky’ and ‘Willie,’ they make me feel safe out there, so it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Wilson had the same reaction on day one, when he told Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir and Al Koken that the size of this group is almost funny. Take a look:
Carbery was asked how much it matters to have Dubois available from day one.
“It’s huge. I talked about it ad nauseum last year about how important he is to our team. Him being healthy and ready to start the season is critical to our success.”
See the rest of Carbery’s availability:
General manager Chris Patrick added Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais over the summer. A healthy Dubois might swing more than any of those moves.
In 2024-25, his first year in D.C., he put up 66 points and a plus-27 rating in 82 games while the Capitals finished first in the East with 111 points.
Their opener is Oct. 2 against the defending champion Hurricanes.
