HERSHEY, PA — Lynden Lakovic’s first professional game was one to remember, even though the Hershey Bears fell to the Charlotte Checkers 5-2 in their home opener.
Starting on the second line with Bogdan Trineyev and Theodor Niederbach, Lakovic showed off his blazing speed, nearly scoring on two different breakaways, but Checkers goaltender Cooper Black foiled them both. Lakovic’s first attempt in period 1 squeaked through Black’s body, but slid just short of the goal line. He then wrote his name on Hershey’s scoresheet for the first time shortly after his second attempt was stopped.
After gathering the puck above the circles, Lakovic curled back to the sideboards and banked a back-pass to Jacob MacDonald at the point. The veteran AHL rearguard then fired a quick shot that found the back of the net, tying the game 2-2 with 50.4 seconds remaining in the second period and giving Lakovic his milestone first career AHL point on a primary assist.
Lynden Lakovic’s first pro point
“When I cut back down low there, I saw there were two guys pressuring me, a D-man and a winger, which obviously means there isn’t anyone covering our D-man,” Lakovic said of the goal, exclusively to RMNB. “So I thought I would just throw it back there and try to get to the net. And when I was driving to the net, J-Mac put it home off a good screen. I don’t know who was in front there. But obviously a pretty cool moment in your first pro game, you get your first point.”
In the third period, Bears head coach Derek King tried to rally his team by switching up the lines, looking for more chemistry. King dropped Andrew Cristall off the top line and put Lakovic with veterans Jonny Brodzinski and Josh Dunne. The move did not pay early dividends, though, as the Checkers’ Nate Smith completed his hat trick 10:05 into the stanza, scoring as Lakovic was lost in coverage.
Nate Smith’s hat trick goal for the Checkers
“Lak, you know, I threw him up on that line,” King said. “I think Cristall was struggling a little bit fighting the puck, which it happens, so I just thought I’d throw him up there and see how he went, and then they end up getting a goal off him. But I just, like, the size, the skating, he’s got some good hands. But, you know, he’s got to work on a few things also.”
When pressed on what those weak spots are, King said, “Backchecking. Tracking pucks hard. Knowing his position. A lot of times the young guys coming out of junior, they stand up straight and they look around to see before, and then they react instead of just go and then you figure things out as you’re skating. There are little things like that, but that’s all. It’s got nothing to do with skill base. It’s just stuff you’ll learn as being a good pro.”
Making his AHL debut at age 19 and 295 days, Lakovic finished the evening with a point, five shots (second only to Josh Dunne’s six), and a minus-1 rating. The game marked Lakovic’s first since November 22, 2025, when he suffered a shoulder injury as a member of the Moose Jaw Warriors that required season-ending surgery. At the time, he was leading the WHL in goals with 18 tallies in just 21 games.
Lakovic, the 27th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft by the Capitals, said after the game that his parents Zoran and Devon watched from home in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. He also seemed eager to talk about his night with his best friend Gavin McKenna, the Maple Leafs star who was the first overall pick from the 2026 NHL Draft. McKenna was playing that night against the Calgary Flames.
As Lakovic took a photo with his milestone first-pro-point puck, he confirmed that the proper way to say the end of his last name is vich, not vick. I also asked him what his goals were for the season, thinking I’d get a goals-or-points prediction. Instead, he immediately focused on the team, hoping first to make the playoffs and then to bring a 14th Calder Cup to Hershey. If he wanted anything for himself, he just wanted to work hard enough that someday he’d find himself deserving of an NHL call-up, even as soon as this year.
Here’s our full conversation from inside Hershey’s media room after the game.
RMNB Q&A with Lynden Lakovic
Q. Congratulations on your night tonight — well, obviously other than the loss. What did you make of your pro debut?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, personally I thought it went well, and I created a lot. And unfortunately I couldn’t bury (a goal), but I did something to build off of a tight checking team like Charlotte was.
Q. You had two breakaways tonight. Your speed definitely translated from junior. Where did that impressive skating skill come from? How did you develop it, especially for being such a tall guy?
Lynden Lakovic: I think I had a massive growth spurt when I was around 14. I was always a decent skater, but felt like it kind of helped me with my stride length, and obviously on the outdoor rink and working with skating coaches since I was a youth hockey player, and it’s definitely carried over.
Q. Were there any surprises from junior to here that you felt like — ‘Oh, that’s something I need to start focusing on?’
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, definitely a big step from junior. It’s my first game pro, but Charlotte, I felt like I watched Florida, and they play exactly like that, so I thought it was a really good challenge. They were tight checking. They played with structure, and they were a fast-paced team that liked to transition, and I think that also fits into my game, but it definitely took me a few shifts to quickly get adjusted to it, and then after that I thought I played very well.
Q. Your first AHL point tonight came on a primary assist on a MacDonald goal. What did that mean to you? Walk me through what you saw on that one and what it meant when you heard your name called for the first time.
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, it was definitely pretty cool. When I cut back down low there, I saw there were two guys pressuring me, a D-man and a winger, which obviously means there isn’t anyone covering our D-man. So I thought I would just throw it back there and try to get to the net. And when I was driving to the net, J-Mac put it home off a good screen. I don’t know who was in front there. But obviously a pretty cool moment, in your first pro game, you get your first point. So it’s pretty cool and special. And hopefully you can bury a few breakaways [in our rematch on Sunday] and some other ones and get the win, but definitely a pretty cool moment.
Q. Yeah, it seems like you were frustrated you didn’t score, and that seems like a lot of expectation for game one.
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I expect a lot for myself. I think I deserve to be here, and obviously I’m just trying to help the team win, and when your job is to score goals, it doesn’t matter if I’m 19 years old; I’m still going to expect to score goals at any level. I mean, just unlucky, I thought, tonight. I think both my breakaways, they actually did beat him. They just didn’t go in somehow. But it is what it is. You just got to move on and try not to get frustrated, stay even keel, and move on.
Q. Who are you rooming with this season?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, right now it’s Terik Parascak at the hotel, and then it should be Terik as well when we move into an apartment.
Q. Who do you look up to here?
Lynden Lakovic: I look up to a lot of the other guys. I mean, you’ve got Smitty, Bitsy, Stromer. I think all of them have been great leaders. Obviously, the guys that were with me [in Washington], but since I’ve been in Hershey, I didn’t get to meet those guys. They’ve been very welcoming and awesome leaders so far, so I’m just excited to spend time with them, get to know them better, and build a bond.
Q. What do you think of Hershey as a city? First time here. I know Clay Stevenson was asked if it smells like actual chocolate when he went to Winnipeg. Did you have any preconceived notions when you came here?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, I did hear the hotel smelled like chocolate, and it indeed does! And I know the soap definitely smells like chocolate as well. But I know it’s a big hockey town. I mean, I’m kind of used to it. I played in a hockey town in junior for four years, a small town that is really passionate. It’s obviously a step up in Hershey, and being out here for the home opener, it kind of sucks we didn’t get the win. But I’m just happy to be here and looking forward to playing in front of these very passionate fans all year.
Q. On the Capitals preseason, my personal opinion is that you seemed like you fit in pretty quickly, which sometimes isn’t the case for some younger guys. Did you take a lot of confidence from that experience, being there with the veteran Capitals players? And do you feel like being around such a tall team is going to help your development even more, when maybe a lot of the guys are going through the same struggles or developing the same things that you are?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, for sure. I mean, being up with the Caps, it’s obviously a confidence booster. Our Hershey Bears team pretty much beat the Flyers team; that’s obviously a confidence booster coming into games like this, right? But you still never know what to expect. I thought I got more confident as the night went on (tonight). I think just going to continue to improve throughout the year.
Q. PLD jokes a lot with the media. He makes fun of the young guys that live with him for their lack of experience with food, cooking, and all that stuff. But like how amazing of a role model is he to have as you’re heading into the season, when this guy is — his father’s a coach in the minors — he just takes the game so seriously, two-way, he’s a big, tall player. Like what did it mean for him to take you in for that first month or so before arriving here?
Lynden Lakovic: It means a lot. It’s never easy coming, moving away from home as a 19-year-old kid in the NHL. And for a guy of that stature to let me move in and welcome me into his house and home is very awesome. And he’s a great role model. I mean, he takes everything for his day-to-day life, like, very serious. And he’s very dialed in on everything he does. And it’s pretty impressive to see. I want to take that stuff and bring it into my life, and I think I have been, and it’s been benefiting me so far.
Q. With the Caps, did you have a welcome-to-the-NHL moment this fall?
Lynden Lakovic: I would say, I mean, Ovi talked to me for the first time.
Q. What was that like?
Lynden Lakovic: That was pretty cool.
Q. Did he just say hi? What was it like?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, he said, what did he say? [thinks] He said, ‘Good luck, brother.’ And it was before one of the preseason games. I thought that was pretty cool.
Q. Isn’t it crazy that just him saying something so small is so meaningful to you personally?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, and then he continued to just say little things throughout the week. But it’s little stuff like that. Like, as a young kid, it’s still really cool. You have a chance to play with him and be around him. But, I mean, you ask anyone, it’s still really cool.
Q. I want to ask you about your friendship with Gavin McKenna. But what is his influence on you? And what I mean by that is: both of you seem really mature for your age. And you both take this extremely seriously, you’re both very articulate. How has that developed over the last few years with him?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, I think a lot. I think we’re two competitive guys that want to make it to the next level. And fortunately for him, he’s there. I’m just trying to chase that. In the summer, we like competing against each other and battling. And if that’s scoring competitions or one-on-one battles, we’re always pushing each other on the ice, in the gym. I know he’s younger than me, but you look up to a guy like that in a way. And I know he’s my good buddy, but we push each other, and it’s, I think, a great friendship.
Q. Did he check in with you before your AHL debut today?
Lynden Lakovic: No, it’s only because he’s playing in Ottawa right now.
Q. With this team, Andrew Cristall is also close with Conor Bedard, then you and Gavin McKenna. For me, it leaves me wondering: does that kind of just raise your baseline of play, just being around people that are so special and talented?
Lynden Lakovic: Yeah, absolutely. I think you surround yourself with better talent, and that’s going to raise your game. I think if you were to, I know it sounds dumb, but if you were to watch me play with a bunch of 17-year-olds, let’s say, for example, I’m going to look completely different than playing in an NHL hockey game. It’s going to be a different kind of level and intensity than I’m playing at. I think training with those kinds of guys throughout the summer raises that going into a year like this and makes you a better player.
Q. You’d rather be uncomfortable.
Lynden Lakovic: I think if you’re the best player in the room, you’ve got to find a different room.
