The Washington Capitals extended a qualifying offer to Hendrix Lapierre before Monday’s 5 pm deadline. The Caps will retain contract rights to their 2020 first-round pick moving into NHL free agency on Tuesday.
While the Capitals did tender an offer to Lapierre, they chose not to do the same for their other pending restricted free agents, Alex Alexeyev, Pierrick Dubé, and Mitchell Gibson. Alexeyev and Dubé will become unrestricted free agents, while Gibson is signed to an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears.
Lapierre finished the 2024-25 season with the AHL’s Bears after failing to hold on to the third-line center position in the NHL with the Capitals. In 32 games for the Bears, Lapierre posted 32 points (7g, 25a). He recorded just eight points, zero of which were goals, in 27 games for the Caps.
The Capitals will likely continue negotiations with Lapierre on his next contract in the coming weeks.
Dubé, a native of Lyon, France, has been part of the Capitals’ organization for the past two seasons, having signed an entry-level contract with the team in 2023. He has been one of Hershey’s top offensive threats since joining the team, recording 88 points (47g, 41a) in 124 games over the last two years.
The 24-year-old winger made his NHL debut with the Caps during the 2023-24 season, playing in three games. Dubé scored a hat trick in Game 6 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals, powering the Bears to a second straight championship.
Gibson is a 2018 fourth-round pick of the Capitals. He spent last season split between the Bears and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. In 14 games for the Stingrays, he posted a 12-1 record with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
