The Washington Capitals will take on the winless San Jose Sharks inside Capital One Arena on Sunday. Center prospect Hendrix Lapierre will play in the game, per head coach Spencer Carbery.
The 2020 first-round draft selection was recalled by the team earlier on Sunday to take Nic Dowd’s roster spot as the veteran center was placed on injured reserve.
Carbery announced that Lapierre will jump right into Dowd’s normal fourth-line center spot, skating on a line with Aliaksei Protas and Beck Malenstyn.
Through six games this year, Lapierre has tallied three assists for the Hershey Bears while playing important minutes for the AHL’s Atlantic Division leaders at all strengths. The vast majority of those minutes have come skating in between former junior teammate Pierrick Dube and talented Russian prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko.
Carbery was asked why Lapierre was the Capitals’ first choice for a forward call up.
“All the reports that we’ve gotten from [Todd Nelson] and Chris Patrick are that he’s off to a good start down there,” Carbery said. “Deserving of an opportunity. He’s played in every situation – power play, penalty kill, a 200-foot game. So, we feel like giving him the first call-up look coming up from Hershey.”
The young pivot is looking to build off a rookie 2022-23 campaign that saw him play a vital role in Hershey’s Calder Cup-winning playoff run. Lapierre scored the game-tying goal in Game Seven of the Finals to send the game to overtime where Mike Vecchione would score the game winner.
Lapierre has past NHL experience with the Capitals after he made a surprise, successful run to a roster spot out of Training Camp before the 2021-22 season. The Quebec native got into six total games during that stint and scored his first NHL goal before being returned to his Canadian junior team.
🚨 FIRST NHL GOAL ALERT 🚨
Congratulations to Hendrix Lapierre (@Lapiz92) — first game, first goal! #NHLFaceOff
📺: @NHL_On_TNT 👉 https://t.co/LaJpv7c3yx #NHLonTNT pic.twitter.com/GnkOhfSf9G
— NHL (@NHL) October 14, 2021
The Capitals are currently carrying 13 forwards on their roster so Lapierre was not guaranteed a jersey despite the recall. But, Sonny Milano is out with an illness and will not be healthy enough to play against San Jose, making way for Lapierre.
Sunday’s contest will be Lapierre’s first in the NHL since November 6, 2021.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
