Photo: @Capitals
Another Caps game. Another rookie making his NHL debut. This time it was Lucas Johansen, a defenseman the Capitals chose in the first round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft with the 28th overall pick.
LET’S GO LUJO‼️#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/lG7aQonQLV
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 1, 2022
He is the eleventh rookie to make his debut with the Capitals for the 2021-22 season, with ten of those rookies being Capitals draftees.
Johansen is the 11th rookie to play for Washington this season. Ten of the 11 rookies to play for the team were drafted by Washington.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 1, 2022
It marks the fourth time in Capitals franchise that the team has had eight or more players debut within the first 40 team games of a season (1974-75: 11; 1981-82: 10; 1979-80: 10).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 1, 2022
Johansen started his career with the Hershey Bears during the 2017-18 season and has played with them ever since. It’s been a difficult road for Johansen, as he has been bothered by injuries through much of his career with the Bears.
“Every kid playing hockey growing up you want to play in the NHL. It was pretty cool … definitely now that it’s over I can in retrospect really enjoy tonight and obviously it was a great win.”
Lucas Johansen on making his NHL debut.#CapsWings pic.twitter.com/CanrwtODQU
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 1, 2022
His older brother, Ryan, five years his senior, who is a center for the Nashville Predators, posted this in honor of his little brother’s debut.
In his debut, Johansen earned the primary assist on the team’s first goal, scored by Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Kuzy keeps scorin’ pic.twitter.com/FDXhEgvgVy
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 1, 2022
By Diane Doyle
