The Washington Capitals have re-claimed former forward Axel Jonsson-Fjällby off waivers. The Buffalo Sabres placed Jonsson-Fjällby on waivers on Sunday. He will report to AHL Hershey.
#Caps claim forward Axel Jonsson Fjallby off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres and loan him to the Hershey Bears (AHL).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 11, 2021
The Sabres announced on Sunday that they had waived former Washington Capitals forward Jonsson-Fjallby. Buffalo claimed Jonsson-Fjallby off waivers from the Capitals on Monday, but visa issues prevented him from playing in any preseason games for the Sabres.
He was a late scratch in Saturday’s preseason finale after participating in warmups.
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby won’t play today due to visa issues. Players acquired on waivers have to reapply for a visa and due to a slowdown, he doesn’t have his new one yet. John Hayden draws in.
— Heather Engel (@engelheather) October 9, 2021
“It’s tough on him, first,” Sabres coach Don Granato said after the Sabres’ 3-1 win over Detroit. “He comes to a team, he thinks he has a chance. We had him penciled in the first game (on Tuesday) and then tonight, it was after warmups, and we just had to pull the plug on it. So, yeah, that’s a tough one for him. It’s unfortunate. The situation and circumstances were out of our control. In that sense, they dictated the situation.”
Fjallby, 23, was a fifth-round draft pick by the Capitals in 2016. He tallied 15 points (10+5) in 31 games with AHL Hershey last season. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals on May 1, 2018, for $860,000 AAV and received a two-year extension on June 7, 2021.
By Jon Sorensen
The plan all along? Hard to belief Buffalo didn’t know the visa rules. It’s likely Washington did, and thought no team is crazy enough to claim him.
Very good possibility.
I doubt it. I’m a retired immigration service employee and can tell you that processing delays can and do happen. The Sabres’ explanation seems very viable to me.
Oh, I’m sure they do, Greg. So shouldn’t a team expect that? Thus what did the Sabres think was going to happen? Having said that, it must happen all the time (teams claim players on visas)
Nice. Hope no one else is claimed today as Caps Pilon and G Fucale could make the team next year…
Both cleared waivers and are in Hershey. We have one more roster reduction, possibly Backstrom to IR.
Awesome thanks! Can’t wait for the season and to see how these youngsters play (Lap, McM, Malenstyn…)
We are getting younger. 🙌