We've Got To Move – With Lars Eller set to come off injured reserve and step into the Washington lineup today in Detroit, the Caps needed to make a corresponding roster move. Hours before the start of Sunday’s game, the Capitals announced they’ve loaned center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. The 22-year-old Lapierre, who was the MVP of the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, had eight assists in 27 games with Washington this season. In 84 career NHL contests, he has totaled nine goals and 31 points while averaging 10:47 per game in ice time.
Lapierre was the Caps’ first-round choice (22nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft.
“With Lars being healthy and ready to play,” says caps coach Spencer Carbery, “it put us in a spot where had to make a roster decision. And just with the way the season has gone, and the depth at the center position, and with Lappy’s minutes being [down and him being occasionally] in the stands, we felt as an organization, it was best for him to get playing in Hershey in the AHL, get his game in a good spot, confident again. And rather than him being here playing limited minutes, or, for that matter, right now being in the stands.”
During Washington’s successful late season push to a playoff berth last season, Lapierre was an integral part of the Caps’ top nine forward group. Recalled from Hershey in late February, Lapierre played in each of Washington’s last 26 games of 2023-24, totaling six goals and nine assists for 15 points.
Over that span of 26 games, only three Capitals – Dylan Strome (25 points), Alex Ovechkin (23) and John Carlson (20) had more points than Lapierre. Lapierre also played in all four of the Caps’ postseason contests last April, picking up a goal and an assist in the process.
This season, Lapierre struggled to find his footing early, and he has been in and out of the lineup since. Connor McMichael, who was drafted a year ahead of Lapierre, had a similar setback at a similar point in his career; McMichael was loaned back to Hershey early in the 2022-23 season, a point at which he had accumulated nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 75 NHL games.
McMichael went back to Hershey and was a big part of the first of the Bears’ two consecutive Calder Cup championship squads. He has been a fixture with the Caps since the start of last season, and is now firmly entrenched in the team’s top six and is tied for the team lead with 16 goals this season.
McMichael has demonstrated that going back to the AHL after playing essentially a full NHL season – while still on an entry-level contract – doesn’t have to be a career crusher.
“Everybody's development path is different,” says Carbery. “And everybody matures at different ages and speeds, and everybody adapts to the NHL game at different speeds. I just don't think it's fair to just say it has to be in one year, two years or three years; as long as you're continuing to get better and progress, you're going to end up at your absolute max potential, and that's all we're trying to [do], is to help Lappy get to his absolute max potential. So at the end of his career, in 15 years, he looks back and says, ‘I couldn't have gotten anything more out of my career, and I was a great player for the Washington Capitals. I was the best player I possibly could be.’
“And so his specific [situation], as we look at and evaluate each individual circumstance and player for what's best for him, this decision for him is, we're trying to make the best decision for him possible for the future, and not just for the organization, but for his career.”
Atlantic Avenue – Late last season, the Capitals played 10 of their final 15 games against Atlantic Division clubs. The Caps went 4-4-2 in those 10 games, but crucially defeated Detroit twice during that stretch, and that was the difference in Washington squeezing into the final available berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, because the Caps and Wings each finished with 91 points.
Currently, the Caps are in the midst of another Atlantic Division leaning patch of their schedule. Starting with a Nov. 25 game in Florida, the Caps are playing nine times against Atlantic opponents in a stretch of 17 games, including four straight games to finish off calendar 2024.
Entering tonight’s game against the Red Wings, Washington is 7-2-1 against Atlantic opponents this season, and it is 6-1-0 during its current Atlantic-heavy stretch. Last season, the Capitals finished with an uninspiring 9-9-6 mark against Atlantic Division denizens.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net for the Caps today in Motown, seeking his 11th victory of the season. He will be making his first start since Dec. 23 in Boston, in Washington’s last game ahead of the NHL’s holiday break.
Dating back to Nov. 15, Lindgren has won seven of his last 10 starts (7-3-0) with a 2.51 GAA and a .903 save pct. In five starts in the month of December, he is 3-2-0 with a 1.80 GAA and a .927 save pct.
Lifetime against the Red Wings, he is 5-2-0 in seven appearances – all starts – with a 3.24 GAA and an .892 save pct. In his most recent start here, Lindgren stopped 42 of 43 shots he faced in an April 9 game, stealing a 2-1 win for Washington and coming within two seconds of recording a shutout.
Alex Lyon is the expected starter for Detroit on Sunday. Both Lyon and Cam Talbot have spent time recovering from injury this season, so the Wings have deployed four different goalies to this point of the campaign.
Lyon was unavailable to the Wings for a span of nine games from late November to mid-December; he returned to action with a win over his former club, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Dec. 18. He lost his most recent start, a 5-1 setback at the hands of the Habs in Montreal on Dec 21, a defeat that halted Lyon’s modest three-game winning streak. Most recently, he mopped up in Friday’s 5-2 home ice loss to the Leafs in Todd McLellan’s Detroit coaching debut; Lyon stopped both shots he faced while playing the entire third period of that contest.
Lifetime against Washington, Lyon is 2-2-2 in seven appearances – six of them starts – with a 2.94 GAA and a .902 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we expect the Caps and the Red Wings might look on Sunday afternoon in Motown:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 21-Protas
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 13-Vrana
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 16-Raddysh
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Extras
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
63-Miroshnichenko
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
DETROIT
Forwards
90-Veleno, 71-Larkin, 23-Raymond
93-DeBrincat, 18-Copp, 88-Kane
11-Tarasenko, 37-Compher, 48-Berggren
27-Rasmussen, 92-Kasper, 36-Fischer
Defensemen
8-Chiarot, 53-Seider
77-Edvinsson, 46-Petry
56-Gustafsson, 3-Holl
Goaltenders
39-Talbot
34-Lyons
Extras
14-Motte
20-Johansson
Out/Injured
None
