Capitals To Acquire Timothy Liljegren

While San Jose is in a playoff race of their own, they have a bevy of pending unrestricted free agent blue-liners. Liljegren is one of them, and they were widely expected to ship multiple names from that group out today to continue recouping at least mid-level assets as they slowly emerge from the ashes of their rebuild.

Acquired from the Maple Leafs early last season, the Sharks have given Liljegren the longest leash of his career. A first-round pick by Toronto in 2017, he was never able to break into a top-four role there but is now averaging over 20 minutes per game in San Jose. Given how much he’s produced at lower levels, the Sharks were likely hoping for a bit more production than the seven goals and 28 points he provided in 110 games since October 2024.

Liljegren didn’t get much power-play time, though, especially this season, with Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg taking up those quarterback slots. With Klingberg being a potential extension candidate given his play and youngsters Shakir Mukhamadullin and Sam Dickinson pushing for more ice time moving forward, the 26-year-old Liljegren didn’t look like a long-term fit.

The move is a sign the Caps aren’t entirely punting on this season, even after trading away franchise defender John Carlson and center Nic Dowd for futures in the last couple of days. Washington’s playoff odds have slipped to a small but still tangible 21.3%, per MoneyPuck. They only find themselves four points out of a spot.

Liljegren could stick around past this season if there’s mutual interest in an extension. Matt Roy is now the only everyday NHL right-shot they have signed for next year, so assuming they shift one of their lefties over to their offside to make room for top prospect Cole Hutson to join the team from college in the coming days as expected, there’s a hole that Liljegren fills in the Caps’ bottom four.