While Timothy Liljegren is new to the Washington Capitals after arriving in a trade deadline deal, he has plenty of familiar faces in the team’s locker room.
Chief among them is Rasmus Sandin, a fellow Swede and Liljegren’s former defense partner when the two patrolled the blueline for the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in their careers. Liljegren met with DC media for the first time after his first practice with the Capitals on Sunday and spoke about reuniting with Sandin.
“It’s huge,” Liljegren said. “I think it makes this transition a little bit easier. I’m sure he’s going to have to take care of me off the ice here. It’s fun, that part, and then just being back with him is just fun as well. So, yeah, we had a lot of fun years together in Toronto, so it’ll be fun to be back with him.”
The Maple Leafs selected Liljegren in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, and the club selected Sandin in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. The two were then teammates in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and in the NHL with the Maple Leafs for five years from 2018 to 2023.
Sandin was the first person on the Capitals that Liljegren contacted after Washington sent the Sharks a 2026 fourth-round pick.
“I texted Sandin right away,” Liljegren said. “He was pumped. Obviously, a lot of calls when you get traded, family, agents, teammates from San Jose. So, yeah, a lot of time spent on the phone. But yeah, I’m excited.”
Liljegren will also be back on the same team as David Kampf, the Capitals’ other trade-deadline acquisition, who was teammates with Liljegren for parts of four seasons in Toronto. He’ll also be under the tutelage of Caps head coach Spencer Carbery again, as Carbery was an assistant for two years in Toronto before taking up his current role with the Capitals.
“I think it’s good,” Liljegren said. “We know each other from before. He’s nice, so, yeah, excited to be here. It seems like a very good group, excited to get going. I think this is a good team to come to. Heard a lot of good things from Sandin.”
Liljegren, who described himself as a two-way defender with a good first pass, will be tasked with trying to soothe the loss of John Carlson on the right side of the Capitals’ backend. In 43 games for the Sharks this season, he’s recorded 11 points (1g, 10a) and averaged 20:08 of ice time per game.
While the Caps didn’t make their expected defense pairings clear at Sunday’s practice, Liljegren could be right back next to Sandin against the Calgary Flames on Monday. The two skating together would allow Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy to be reunited after Carbery separated them in the Capitals’ loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
