Capitals Select Hendrix Lapierre in the First Round of the 2020 NHL Draft

The Washington Capitals selected center Hendrix Lapierre with the 22nd overall selection in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
The Capitals traded their 24th overall pick and their 80th overall pick to the Calgary Flames to select Lapierre.

Lapierre, 18, was ranked seventh overall among North American centers and ninth overall among all forwards by NHL Central Scouting. The Gatineau, Quebec, native spent the 2019-20 season with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), recording 17 points (2g, 15a) in 19 games. The 6'0", 179-pound center recorded 11 points (3g, 8a) in five games at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, leading all skaters in the tournament in points and helped Team Canada earn a silver medal.

In the 2018-19 season, Lapierre won the Michel Bergeron as the QMJHL Offensive Rookie of the Year after recording 45 points (13g, 32a) in 48 games with Chicoutimi.
This marks the second straight Draft the Capitals have selected a center in the first round (Connor McMichael, 25th overall in 2019). Lapierre becomes the 17th center the Capitals have selected in the first round in team history and the first player from the QMJHL since Stanislav Galiev and Samuel Carrier in 2010.