Pierrick Dubé will make his NHL debut against Panthers and become just the 13th French-born player in league history

Pierrick Dubé will see his NHL dream come true on Saturday night.

According to The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, the 23-year-old forward will make his debut with the Washington Capitals on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers. The news was announced by head coach Spencer Carbery during his pregame media availability.

Dubé, the Hershey Bears’ leading goal scorer, is set to become just the 13th French-born player in the league’s history. The Capitals recalled the undrafted winger earlier this week after center Nic Dowd went down with an injury and defenseman Martin Fehervary was placed on injured reserve.

“He’s having a fantastic year,” Carbery said of Dubé on Wednesday. “My first year in the organization, got familiar with him in training camps and exhibitions. He went [to Hershey] and has done a tremendous job. Felt like he had earned the opportunity for this call-up.”

Dubé, a former junior linemate of Hendrix Lapierre, has 34 total points (24g, 10a) this season. The Capitals signed the 23-year-old to an entry-level contract last July after he spent the 2022-23 campaign in the Montreal Canadiens organization.

After sitting out healthy against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, Dubé will jump into the team’s lineup with TJ Oshie now out injured. Dubé’s good pal Lapierre was also recalled on Friday after the Capitals placed Dowd on injured reserve.

Carbery spoke about the process of getting the rookie prepared for his debut after Friday’s practice. The rookie bench boss has him slated to skate with Aliaksei Protas and Beck Malenstyn.

“You don’t want a young player playing in his first NHL game overthinking it,” Carbery said. “It’s more of a competing thing – go out there and work. All the little things that he knows about. Just reminding him that those are the things that are going to be important.

“You don’t want a player constantly thinking about his positioning and stuff, so we’ll make sure he has the basics of [our structure], but what I want to see from him is competitiveness, good with his puck touches, strong on the walls, get his shot off whenever he can. Show your offensive instincts that you’ve been able to showcase all your life and specifically this year in Hershey.”

Dubé will wear jersey number 72 for the Capitals. Until now, Travis Boyd had been the sole player to ever wear the number 72 in franchise history.

Outside of Dubé’s debut and Oshie’s absence, the only other lineup news is that Alex Alexeyev will jump onto the team’s third defense pairing in place of Ethan Bear. Charlie Lindgren will get another start in goal after winning both of his last two games.

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