Needing forward help, Capitals recall Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

The Washington Capitals were off today but still made a couple roster moves. First they recalled Axel Jonsson-Fjallby from the Hershey Bears. Then they re-assigned Zach Fucale to Hershey. The latter probably indicates that Ilya Samsonov might be able to at least back up Vitek Vanecek tomorrow night against the Seattle Kraken.

Jonsson-Fjallby, who’s 24, has recorded one assist in nine games with the Caps this season and made his NHL debut on Nov. 8, 2021 against the Buffalo Sabres. The six foot one, 189 pound forward is tied for second on Hershey this season with 34 points in 44 games with 16 goals and 18 assists.

In 31 games with the Bears last season, AJF recorded 15 points with 10 goals and five assists and set an AHL career high in goals per game with 0.32. The Stockholm, Sweden, native also played in 26 games on a loan with Vastervik IK in the Swedish Hockey League, recording 15 points with four goals and 11 assists.

In 152 career games in Hershey, AJF has recorded 75 points with 40 goals and 35 assists. He was selected by the Capitals in the fifth round at 147th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Fucale heads back to the Bears where he’s 8-8-4 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .884 save percentage. His return to Hershey indicates Samsonov might be OK after he hurt himself taking a shot in practice the other day.

The tricky part about recalling AJF up is that if he plays a game and then the team attempts to send him back down to Hershey, he would be required to go through waivers. But with Carl Hagelin out for the remainder of the season, a good flow that can also kill some penalties could be a boost for the Caps. They’re almost like twins. AJF is like a young Hagelin. And he’s faster too.

We’ll see what happens at morning skate tomorrow when the line rushes take place. Unless it’s an optional then we’d have to wait till warmups.