The Washington Capitals just lost Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.
The Buffalo Sabres claimed the Swedish prospect off waivers after the Capitals cut him from their Training Camp roster on Sunday and tried to send him to Hershey.
BUF claims Axel Jonsson-Fjallby from WASH
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 4, 2021
Jonsson-Fjallby, 23, played parts of three seasons for the Hershey Bears. During the 2020-21 campaign, he scored 15 points (10g, 5a) in 31 games for Hershey after spending the first part of the season on loan to Västerviks IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan (15 points in 26 games).
The speedy, defensive-minded forward routinely showed offensive pop while playing in his native Sweden and became one of the most clutch performers in the SHL during the 2018 and 2019 playoffs. AJF tallied 20 points (13g, 7a) in those 30 playoff games, including three goals in the 2019 SHL Finals for Djurgarden.
Axel Jonsson Fjallby's team Djurgardens down 4-1 heading to the second intermission in Game 6 of the SHL finals. Need a win or their season is over. AJF has the only goal for his side. pic.twitter.com/j3tk49I3el
— Kyle Mace (@kyle_mace) May 2, 2019
Nice primary assist by Capitals prospect Axel Jonsson Fjällby.https://t.co/P2uuhCdZDZ#SHL #Playoffs #DIFhockey #allcaps pic.twitter.com/bWh8GMkjLc
— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) April 12, 2019
Jonsson-Fjallby, who has some of the best lettuce in hockey, finally began seeing his offensive touch develop in hockey, finishing third on the team in goals (10) last year.
With the Capitals preferring to sport a veteran roster and give roster spots to players like Conor Sheary and Carl Hagelin in the bottom six, there was no room for any middle-tier prospects to develop, which gave perennial bottom-feeder Buffalo the opportunity to take a chance on Jonsson-Fjallby.
The Sabres likely were very familiar with Jonsson-Fjallby’s work as the prospect was a linemate of Marcus Davidsson in Djurgarden. Davidsson was a 2017 second-round pick for Buffalo, but the team opted not to sign him in June.
The Capitals originally drafted AJF in the fifth-round pick of the 2016 NHL Draft.
