With so many talented veterans and prospects, the Hershey Bears make it difficult for a newcomer to stand out. But Pierrick Dube has found a way.
Dube, who was signed by the Capitals to a two-year entry-level contract late on the first day of free agency, has seemingly come out of nowhere to lead, not only the 26-6-0 Hershey Bears, but the entire AHL in goals.
With his empty netter against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, the five-foot-nine, 172-pound forward scored his 17th goal of the season, one more than he had all of last year for the Laval Rocket.
AHEM.
🗣️That’s a league-leading 17th goal of the season for @duber72_!
🍎Limoges
🍏Huntington https://t.co/MlG2w4XkLV pic.twitter.com/ENRqH8PmJV— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 28, 2023
“Last year, we didn’t really have true finishers that could finish a play off and score a goal,” Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson said after a recent game. “He falls in that category. He doesn’t need a lot of chances to score. We have a few guys like that on our team so it’s nice that you have that firepower. He has a knack around the net. All he needs is a couple of chances to score goals.”
And Dube is doing much of his work at five-on-five. Only five of his 17 goals have come via the power play, where the Bears have the fourth-best unit in the AHL (23.8 percent). He’s been clutch too, leading the team in game-winning goals with five.
During the Bears’ 4-1 victory, Dube also showed that he was a good teammate as well, immediately challenging Corey Andonovski to a fight after the the Baby Penguins’ forward boarded and bloodied Alex Limoges. The fight was Dube’s first as a professional and only the second of his career.
Despite his scoring prowess since turning pro — he’s averaging .43 goals per game at the AHL level — Dube went undrafted and aged out of the QMJHL with the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2021-22. As a 20-year-old, Dube scored 19 goals and tallied 44 points in 36 games.
Dube spent parts of five years in the QMJHL with the Quebec Remparts, Chicoutimi Sagueneens, and Shawinigan Cataractes. His time in Chicoutimi was especially notable as he was linemates with Capitals 2020 first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre and New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer.
The trio starred for Chicoutimi in the QMJHL 2021 playoffs, posting a combined 43 points in nine games. They were eventually bounced out of the semifinals by the Val-d’Or Foreurs in three games. Dube was dealt to the Cataractes the next year where he became a QMJHL champion.
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Dube started this season primarily skating with Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko on the right wing of Hershey’s third line. With both Lapierre and Miroshnichenko getting call-ups to the NHL throughout the season, Dube has found a new home on the Bears’ second line with Jimmy Huntington and Limoges, where he’s become even more lethal.
So far in December, Dube has nine goals in 12 games, including a four-game goal streak that spanned Dec. 17 through Dec. 27.
🚨Pierrick Dubé has found the net for the third straight game and is now tied for @TheAHL goal-scoring lead!🚨
🍎Priskie
🍏Roe https://t.co/sGvVAn6tBp pic.twitter.com/iNUE8h3XGu— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
For a Capitals team that is struggling mightily to score, Dube is putting himself on the map and could earn a call-up in the not so distant future. That is, if he can keep it up.
Headline photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears
