The Washington Capitals have been busy making big moves this week. The Caps have acquired both Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues and Alex Tuch from the Buffalo Sabres in two separate trades.
With two wingers coming into the mix, the Capitals decided to move one that was set to become a restricted free agent, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
“Hendrix Lapierre traded to Pittsburgh in exchange for a 3rd RD pick in ’27 and a 5th RD pick in ’28 (originally SJ),” LeBrun posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Lapierre was the 22nd overall selection of the Capitals in the 2020 NHL Draft. He would play six games for the Caps in 2021-22, but then spend the next year with the AHL Hershey Bears. He split time between the AHL and NHL the next two seasons before becoming a full-time NHL player in 2025-26. This past year, he played in 74 games for the Caps, finding the back of the net four times while adding 12 assists.
With the trade for Tuch and Kyrou, the Capitals have a glut of talent on the wings. Aliaksei Protal, Alex Tuch, Anthony Beauvillier, and Ethen Frank expect to take the left side, while Kyrou, Tom Wilson, Ryan Leonard, and Ivan Mirochnichenko are on the right. This left Lapierre as the odd man out, and with him needing a new contract anyway, the Caps get some value for him.
Further, the Capitals could still be adding talent. They will have $15 million in cap space to work with, which could possibly be enough to convince Alex Ovechkin to put off retirement for one more year.
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