Capitals place Lucas Johansen on waivers, could be claimed by another team in 24 hours

The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Lucas Johansen on waivers. Teams will have 24 hours to claim him until 2 p.m. tomorrow. If nobody claims him, Johansen will report to the Hershey Bears.

In the past the Caps have waived Nathan Walker, another team claimed him, then that team waived him allowing the Caps to pick up Walker again. Last year the Caps waived Axel Jonsson Fjallby who got picked up by the Winnipeg Jets.

Johansen had one assist through six games this season which came in a win Friday Nov. 10 over the New Jersey Devils. He’s spent much of the season as a healthy scratch especially now that Joel Edmundson is back in the lineup.

Johansen’s last NHL game came on Nov. 18 in a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is one of three NHL players that entered waivers today joining Jacob Bryson of the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Shea of the Pittsburgh Penguins. All three are defensemen.

Johansen was drafted in the first round by the Capitals in 2016. He has struggled to get on the ice along with defenseman Alex Alexeyev since the return of Joel Edmundson.

The Caps have been linked to defenseman Ethan Bear who previously played for the Vancouver Canucks. Chris Johnston reported that the Caps signed him to a two year deal but the team hasn’t made anything official.

Elliotte Friedman who reported the players on waivers, said there has to be a domino effect before the Capitals officially announce the Bear signing and we may have seen exactly that with Johansen going to waivers.

If he gets picked up by another team, thanks for everything LuJo. If not, he goes back to the Bears where he was a key player on their Calder Cup championship team last season.

Keep an eye on the Caps because maybe there might be some more moves to be made this week.