The Hershey Bears sat Washington Capitals 2020 first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre in both of their weekend games. The healthy scratches were Lapierre’s first of his professional career.

With the NHL trade deadline two weeks away, the move raised eyebrows, especially as the Capitals are scuffling and are becoming a long shot to make the playoffs for a ninth-straight season.

But the prospect was not healthy-scratched for trade reasons. It was for his recent play.

“Lappy’s sitting out just because right now he’s frustrated,” Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson said on AHL TV. “We kind of want to use this as a reset button for him. You know he’s a great kid, a student of the game. We just want him to watch the game from up top, watch the intensity of the players playing. We just feel like his intensity has to rise up and that’s very common with a young player like him. He’ll get back in the lineup very soon.”

Dylan Strome’s brother, Matt, replaced Lapierre in the lineup.

“He’s a very good penalty killer and a very smart player for us,” Nelson said.

At one point early in the season, Lapierre led the Hershey Bears in both points and goals. But the talented center has just seven points (2g, 5a) in 15 games since the start of 2023. Lapierre’s also received less ice time and opportunity on the power play since Connor McMichael was sent down, becoming a fixture on the team’s third line.

Despite being sat both games this weekend, Lapierre, 21, still has the fourth-most goals (12) and sixth-most points (25) on the Bears this season. Lapierre, who scored a goal in his first NHL game with the Capitals, rooms with defense prospect Vincent Iorio in Hershey and could be a part of the NHL’s team core in the future.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB