Hendrix Lapierre tried to make the opening night roster but with the play of Aliaksei Protas and others, the Washington Capitals sent him to the Hershey Bears yesterday.
Nothing too wrong about that. He needs more time to develop his game and he should be a star on the Bears this year just like Connor McMichael was a couple seasons ago.
In addition, Vincent Iorio got loaned to the Caps AHL affiliate. The following players were placed on waivers and cleared those today to be able to report to Hershey: Beck Malenstyn, Garrett Pilon, Gabriel Carlsson, Dylan McIlrath, Bobby Nardella, and Zach Fucale.
Here is the updated training camp roster. In other news goaltender Clay Stevenson underwent a successful surgical procedure to address an injury to his right hand. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Lapierre appeared in 40 games with the Acadie Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL recording 21 goals and adding 30 assists for 51 points. He skated in three Caps preseason games.
Iorio also suited up for three preseason games and had his first unofficial NHL assist. With the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL last season he skated in 60 games and recorded 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points.
Malenstyn played in two preseason games. In 65 games with the Bears last season he recorded 10 goals and six assists for 16 points.
Pilon played in 60 games with the Bears last season recording 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points. He appeared in two Caps preseason games.
Gabriel Carlsson also appeared in two Caps preseason games. Last season he played 38 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets and recorded two goals and seven assists for nine points. He also had two assists in two games with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
McIlrath appeared in one Caps preseason game and 74 games last season with Hershey recording four goals and six assists for 10 points.
Nardella had an assist in two Caps preseason games. He added six goals and 17 assists for 23 points in 44 games.
Fucale played in two games and made 19 saves on 21 total shots for a 3.10 goals against average and a .905 save percentage in the preseason. With the Bears last season he went 11-15-7 with a 2.62 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.