Screenshots of a group chat involving Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic were leaked Wednesday that showed the 25-year-old insulting current teammates, the wife of another player and pregnant women. Leipsic has since deleted his Instagram account, where the conversations took place, presumably in the wake of these revelations.
After the photos circulated around social media, the NHL referred to the comments "misogynistic and reprehensible remarks" in a statement but out by the league.
Statement from the National Hockey League. pic.twitter.com/aZm1M2wZBk
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 7, 2020
The Capitals also released a statement saying that they were aware of the situation and were planning on handling it in-house.
From the @Capitals, on Brendan Leipsic's DMs: “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.”
— Hemal Jhaveri (@hemjhaveri) May 6, 2020
Some of the players whose partners Leipsic insults include Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tanner Pearson of the Vancouver Canucks.
After the messages were published, Leipsic took to social media to apologize for what he said:
— brendan leipsic (@19LEIP) May 6, 2020
Leipsic signed a one-year, $700,000 deal with the Capitals on July 1. Having already become a bit of a journeyman in his young career, he had a story written about him in the Washington Post with a lead that didn't turn out so great in hindsight.
At 25 years old, Brendan Leipsic has already had a long, winding journey in the NHL. The left winger has been traded twice, selected in the expansion draft, waived, claimed off waivers and finally this summer became an unrestricted free agent after not being offered a contract. For some teams, Leipsic's inability to stick with one club would be a red flag. The Washington Capitals see it as an opportunity.
Whether that opportunity with the Caps continues will be determined sooner rather than later.
