Washington Capitals claim Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers from Toronto Maple Leafs

The Washington Capitals have claimed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to multiple reports.

Aube-Kubel, 26, failed to record a point in six games with the Maple Leafs to start the 2022–23 regular season. The Slave Lake, Alberta product averaged 9:05 per game during his short tenure in Toronto.

The Maple Leafs originally signed Aube-Kubel to a one-year, $1 million contract as an unrestricted free agent this past July. Aube-Kubel won (and dented) the Stanley Cup in June as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

The Philadelphia Flyers originally selected Aube-Kubel in the second round (No. 48 overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft. The 5’11”, 187-pound forward made his NHL debut with the Flyers in 2018–19 and spent much of the following two seasons with the club before being claimed off waivers by Colorado early in the 2021–22 campaign.

Aube-Kubel set new career-high single-season marks in goals (11), assists (12), points (23), and games played (74) while splitting 2021–22 between Philadelphia and Colorado. He recorded all but one of those 23 points in his 67 games with the Avalanche last season.

Although he didn’t record a point in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Aube-Kubel averaged 10:22 in 14 games with the Avalanche and appeared at least once in all four playoff rounds (including in Games 1 and 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning).

Aube-Kubel will most likely compete with the likes of Nic Dowd, Marcus Johansson, Garnet Hathaway, Sonny Milano, Joe Snively, Connor McMichael, and Aliaksei Protas for playing time in Washington. The Capitals have gotten off to a 5–5–2 start in 2022–23 and currently rank sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

In 175 career NHL games with the Flyers, Avalanche, and Maple Leafs over parts of five regular seasons, Aube-Kubel has scored 21 goals and 50 points.