Photo: Tim Krochak
Scoring had gone relatively quiet during the month of March for Washington Capitals prospect Hendrix Lapierre. He had just four goals and two of those goals came in the first game of the month. But similar to the way he ended the month of February, Lapierre is heating up again at the close of the month.
Lapierre recorded two goals and three assists and was named the first star of the game in Friday night’s game with the Halifax Mooseheads. His first goal came just 1:32 into the contest.
🚨: Hendrix Lapierre
🍎: Dylan Andrews
🍏: @miguel86484493 #GoTitanGo⚔️ | @trevali https://t.co/lbtYkRE3Z1 pic.twitter.com/jOQeoX82bk— Titan d’Acadie-Bathurst (@ABTitan) March 25, 2022
Lapierre’s second goal of the game came early in the second period on a nice end-to-end play that was finished with a shot from the top of the slot.
🚨: Hendrix Lapierre
🍎: @ColeLarkin7
🍏: @MarcAndreG15 #GoTitanGo⚔️ | @trevali https://t.co/JGI1I5ZNNJ pic.twitter.com/l5g6kR48Yz— Titan d’Acadie-Bathurst (@ABTitan) March 25, 2022
Lapierre, 20, would also add three assists in the game as Acadie-Bathurst would go on to win 11-2, extending the Titans winning streak to eight games and improving their record to 32-15-2-2 on the season.
Lapierre now has 18 goals and 29 assists in just 32 games played so far this season for a 1.47 points per game average. That is 4th best on the Titan’s roster and 11th best in the QMJHL. On March 1 Lapierre had 14 goals and 19 assists in just 20 games played for a 1.65 points per game average. He’s shot the puck 125 times for a 14.4% shooting percentage so far this season and won 54% of his faceoffs.
The QMJHL was paused in December due to the COVID pandemic and didn’t restart until February 5th. Since the restart Lapierre has 13 goals and 16 assists in 21 games for a 1.38 points per game average.
After spending more than 70 days in quarantine last season, Lapierre is starting to finally hit a stretch of consistent games. He is still on the low side, playing in just 78 games since 2018. That’s the equivalent of one AHL season, which is likely next on the agenda for Lapierre.
Acadie-Bathurst has 18 games remaining in their regular season, which ends on May 1.
By Jon Sorensen
That Titan team must be loaded for Lapierre to be 4th in points per game.
Indeed they do. He’s behind Lafrance, MacAurther and Kidney. Four in top 11 in the Q.
He also started the season after the rest of those folks on the team. But yeah, that team is loaded.
Hopefully in Hershey next year
Will he be in Hershey or in Wash next year?
I’m always wary of CHL offensive stats, since the ages of the players range from ~16-21, which creates a huge difference in physical maturity between the players. The older kids like LaPierre should dominate. There’s also a pretty wide disparity in the financial condition of the teams, which creates further inequalities in on-ice competitive balance. In addition, the Q has always been a “defense optional” league, so it isn’t that unusual to see high points-per-game stats.
That said, this kid has shown his talent in NHL games. He has all the tools except adult strength. He has the most upside of any young forward in the Caps’ system and just needs to mature a bit before becoming a top-tier NHL player.
You are not wrong about any of your assessment. He needs to continue to get games and gain a little more bulk/strength. Time in AHL might be best next step. The CHL value ended a while ago.