Hendrix Lapierre was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins this offseason. How will he do this year?
It's been about two and a half months since the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Hendrix Lapierre from the Washington Capitals.
They gave up a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to get Lapierre, who needed a change of scenery. It's the exact type of "brick by boring brick" trade that Penguins general manager/president Kyle Dubas has made several times over the last couple of years.
He's taking a chance on Lapierre, who is still only 24 and has shown flashes at the NHL level. Lapierre signed a two-year contract with the Penguins back in July.
Lapierre has appeared in 158 games since making his debut in 2021-22, compiling 13 goals and 47 points. He played in 74 games last year, scoring four goals and totaling 16 points.
In Lapierre's 637:57 of 5v5 ice time, he was out there for 54.4% of the shot attempts, 55.6% of the expected goals, 55.6% of the scoring chances, and 58.7% of the high-danger chances.
While those underlying numbers are career highs (same with 74 games played), it doesn't mean he's a shoo-in for the opening-night roster. He will have to fight to make the team, especially since other young players and even veterans are trying to solidify their spots in the bottom six.
Right now, I see Lapierre as a 13th forward, but that could change if he has a better camp and preseason than some of the players he's directly competing with. When he plays, he'll mostly be used in 5v5 situations since he hasn't played much special teams over the past two seasons.
With that in mind, I'm projecting him to score close to double-digit goals this season. He'll likely be in and out of the lineup, but he'll still create chances and score on some of them.
If Lapierre blows past that projection, it will only make the trade look even better for the Penguins.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick).
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