The AHL’s best team (by a country mile) is getting another big piece.
Defenseman Lucas Johansen, who was put on waivers by the Washington Capitals on Monday, was not claimed by another NHL team by Tuesday’s 2 pm deadline.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the news.
Everyone from yesterday cleared
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 19, 2023
Johansen was assigned to Hershey by the Capitals after he cleared.
#Caps loan defenseman Lucas Johansen to the Hershey Bears (AHL).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 19, 2023
Per Friedman, today is the final day players could be placed on waivers before the Christmas roster freeze which lasts through December 28. No players can be traded, waived, sent down, signed, or placed on LTIR until midnight on December 28.
Johansen and Joe Snively were the odd men out as the Capitals promoted Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre with TJ Oshie and Sonny Milano both out due to injury. Johansen had been healthy-scratched 13 straight games since defenseman Joel Edmundson made his season debut in November.
Johansen joins a Bears team that has won 22 of their first 28 games this season, leading the entire AHL in standings points by 9. Johansen has spent six seasons in Hershey, posting 80 points in 235 games. His excellent play during the 2023 playoffs was one of the reasons why the Bears were able to capture their 12th Calder Cup championship.
Here’s the full press release from the Hershey Bears:
2023 CALDER CUP CHAMPION LUCAS JOHANSEN LOANED TO BEARS
Defender has played 235 career games with Hershey
(Hershey, PA – December 19, 2023) – The Washington Capitals, the NHL affiliate of the Hershey Bears, have loaned defenseman Lucas Johansen to Hershey. The announcement was made by Washington’s president and general manager Brian MacLellan.
Johansen, 26, has played parts of six seasons with the Bears from 2017-23, and the native of Vancouver, British Columbia was part of Hershey’s 2023 Calder Cup Championship team. Last season, Johansen appeared in 40 games with Hershey, registering seven points (1g, 6a). In the playoffs, he had six points (2g, 4a) in 20 games, including the series-clinching goal in the Atlantic Division Finals versus Hartford.
In his AHL tenure with Hershey, Johansen has skated in 235 games, scoring 80 points (18g, 62a).
Johansen appeared in six games with the Capitals this season, posting one assist. He’s skated in nine career NHL games with Washington, logging two assists. He was selected by the Capitals in the first-round, 28th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft.
The Bears continue the 2023-24 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Springfield Thunderbirds at MassMutual Center on Friday, Dec. 22 at 7:05 p.m. Hershey is back on home ice for Berks Holiday Ham Shoot Night against the Providence Bruins at GIANT Center on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. All fans are welcome onto the ice postgame to take part in the Berks Holiday Ham Shoot.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
