The Capitals won’t get either of their trade-deadline acquisitions in their lineup against the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed after the team’s morning skate that neither Timothy Liljegren nor David Kampf will be ready to make their respective debuts. Kampf, in particular, is being held out until the U.S. government resolves his immigration status.
“Kampf will not, he’s still going through immigration process,” Carbery said. “We’re hopeful that he’ll be able to play on Wednesday, but I can’t… yeah, it’s not a definitive when it comes to the U.S. government and pushing things through as far as immigration, so we’ll see.”
The 32-year-old Czech center hasn’t played for an American team since he was with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2020-21 season. Kampf has spent the last five years split between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks.
Liljegren’s absence will be more hockey-related, as Carbery wants to give the 26-year-old Swede a chance to understand what will be asked of him once he is patrolling the team’s backend.
“Just want to give him a couple extra days to get acclimated with the group, let him watch a game at Capital One, make sure he’s dialed in systematically,” Carbery said. “With where we’re at in the year, thought it would be a difficult spot to put him into the lineup.”
Given Liljegren’s age and the new hole on the right side of the Capitals’ defense corps, the club may be using these final weeks of the season as an audition to see if they’d want to sign Liljegren to a new deal when his current one expires in July. Carbery spoke about tracking the former first-round pick’s growth while the two were with the Maple Leafs and how Liljegren has come along since leaving Toronto.
“His development, I followed it very closely,” Carbery said. “I know it’s kind of weird when you get into your second, third organization, you don’t really have a reference point, but he was a very, very blue-chip prospect in Toronto that they spent a lot of time with, and he was talked about extensively. He did a good job. It took him a little bit longer. Toronto, at that point, had a pretty good team, so he spent a little bit more time in the American League, which, normally, defensemen do, even if you’re a first-rounder.
“It got to a point where he was right there on the cusp of being an everyday NHL player. I think he’s just continued to chip away at that. As far as what he is as a D-man, I think he’s just become a more well-rounded, puck-moving, good defender. He can play in basically every situation. Is he a first over-the-boards penalty-kill guy? Is he a first over-the-boards power-play guy? No, but he can do both. I think the other part is that he now has a really good understanding of his role and what he has to do at a high level.”
Outside of the two newest Capitals not playing, the Capitals plan to go back to Logan Thompson in net against his hometown team. Thompson is 5-3 against the Flames in his career with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
The Flames will have Dylan Strome’s older brother, Ryan Strome, playing in his second game after they traded for him at the deadline. “Always exciting, always fun to play against him,” Dylan said.
Calgary beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 at home on Saturday, and they are beginning a five-game road trip out east with their game against the Capitals.
