Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic is trending for all the wrong reasons Wednesday. Leaked screenshots of a private conversation on Instagram between he and friends illustrated lewd and offensive comments made directed at specific women, including the wife of Vancouver Canucks’ Tanner Pearson.
Leipsic also made disparaging comments about former and current Capitals’ teammates, including Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway. Florida Panthers’ Jack Rodewald also participated in what appears to be a group chat.
Leipsic described Dowd and Hathaway as “losers.”
The leaked screenshots can be viewed here (Warning NSFW language used).
The Washington Capitals released a statement, per Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, saying the team “will handle this matter internally.”
The NHL also released a statement on Leipsic’s actions, saying the league “strongly condemns the misogynistic and reprehensible” remarks made by Leipsic and Rodewald.
Leipsic’s Instagram account has since been deactivated. He later apologized for his comments in a statement on Twitter.
“Yesterday my friend’s Instagram account was hacked and an individual circulated images that are representative of private conversations I was a part of. 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.”
Brendan Leipsic/ Twitter
The Capitals signed Leipsic to a one-year deal last summer. He had three goals, eight assists and a plus-3 rating in 61 games before the 2019-2020 season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Leipsic played for Toronto, Vancouver, Vegas and Los Angeles prior to joining the Capitals.
