Washington Capitals select Hendrix Lapierre: Experts react

Washington Capitals beat writers react to Hendrix Lapierre.

Well that was certainly an exciting night of the first round of the NHL Draft and the Washington Capitals rocked the hockey world by trading with the Calgary Flames for the 22nd pick to select Hendrix Lapierre. There was something they liked about the kid and let’s see how the experts reacted.

We’ll start with myself as site expert at Stars and Sticks. I wrote about the possibility of them trading up but wasn’t sure if they’d pull the trigger. I like the pick and can’t wait to see his full potential after dealing with injury issues. Believing in the kid despite the injury speaks volumes and it was clear there was something they liked about him to the point where they didn’t let him slip away.

Now let’s see the reactions of the beat writers who cover the Capitals on a daily basis.

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My friend Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic said, “It’s a high risk, potentially high reward pick because of the medical questions surrounding Lapierre.”

Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com said something similar about the pick being high risk and high reward. He said, “On the surface, a high risk, but high reward pick of an incredibly skilled player.”

Samantha Pell of The Washington Post called him a “really, really talented player.”

Rob Carlin wrote, “Hendrix Lapierre sounds like a monster talent. Bob McKenzie said he’s the ‘wildcard of the draft’. Has top 10 talent but tons of concussion issues. Says there were some vertebrae issues. Talent is there. Interesting pick.”

Sammi Silber, digital sports producer at NBC Sports and a Stars and Sticks alumni said, “Absolute STEAL. He’s an insanely good skater and puck carrier. Has the talent of a much higher pick. Injury trouble just got in the way.”

Nikki Giordano of Pucker Up Sports said, “Great potential with that Capitals pick. Could end up being an absolute steal. He definitely would have been a top 10 pick without his injury history. Extremely happy with the Capitals tonight.”

JJ Regan of NBC Sports Washington said, “The Caps must be very confident in Lapierre as he will now be the team’s only pick in the first three rounds. Very interesting to see him fall and the Caps then essentially gamble their 2020 draft on him. Bold move by MacLellan to take a very good player.”

Rounds 2-7 of the NHL Draft is taking place right now.