Over the last three seasons, Hendrix Lapierre has played 113 regular-season games for the Hershey Bears in the AHL. He’s been up and down with the Bears and the Washington Capitals, but last season might’ve been the last time he’d be sent to the minors.

Throughout these 2025-26 exhibition games, Lapierre has separated himself as one of the better players, not only on the Capitals but in the NHL, in terms of this pre-season.

In Lapierre’s two pre-season outings, he’s recorded one goal and five assists for six points. In just those couple of appearances, the Capitals center leads the league in pre-season assists and is tied in first for points with Calgary Flames center Morgan Frost, who’s played four pre-season games.

Not only is Lapierre helping his own chances at cracking Washington’s lineup, but he’s helping others, specifically Sonny Milano.

The two Caps forwards have combined on five goals, either setting each other up or creating a goal for another player in tandem with two assists on the same play. For that, Milano is tied for the pre-season lead in goals with four, along with Seattle Kraken’s Jani Nyman.

Even if it’s just pre-season and only two games, Lapierre has shown that he belongs in the NHL, and he may never pull on a Hershey uniform for the rest of his hockey career if he keeps up his play.

Lapierre had an excellent season for the Bears last year. In 32 contests, he recorded seven goals and 25 helpers for 32 points, becoming a point-per-game player for the first time in the regular season.

The 23-year-old centerman also has two Calder Cups to his name, as Hershey was crowned champions in back-to-back seasons, 2023 and 2024.

His performance in the 2024 Cup run was exceptional, registering over a point per game. He scored seven goals and 15 helpers for 22 points in 20 playoff games. 

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