Capitals’ Prospect Lucas Johansen Dealing With Injury

After returning to the Hershey Bears after a short call-up for the Washington Capitals, defenseman Lucas Johansen is now dealing with a lower-body injury with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Per the Bears, Johansen, along with Mike Sgarbossa, Ethen Frank and Matt Strome, was not available for Sunday’s tilt against the Laval Rocket as he deals with the injury. It is unclear what the nature of the injury is or the severity level at this time.

Johansen has played in one game up at the NHL level this season while helping fill in for injured blueliners Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson on Monday against the Edmonton Oilers. The Capitals returned Johansen to Hershey with Alex Alexeyev coming off the long-term injured reserve. In eight games with the Bears, the 24-year-old blueliner has a goal and an assist.

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His injury comes as Washington deals with seven total skaters on the shelf, including Nicklas Backstrom (hip resurfacing surgery), Tom Wilson (ACL surgery), Carl Hagelin (hip surgery), T.J. Oshie (lower-body), Connor Brown (ACL surgery), Beck Malenstyn (hand surgery) and Orlov (lower-body injury). Carlson returned from his lower-body injury back on Friday.

Johansen, a 2016 first-round selection who signed a two-year extension this offseason, came close to finally cracking the NHL roster this season. However, he just fell short of a spot, with the Capitals sending him down for more playing time while keeping Matt Irwin as the seventh defensemen. The road to the Show has been a long one filled with adversity and injuries, and now, he’ll have to conquer another obstacle to continue his path toward D.C.