Fansided

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Liam O’Brien

By Michael Marzzacco |
HERSHEY, PA - JANUARY 05: Hershey Bears left wing Liam OBrien (20) skates in the offensive zone during the Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Hershey Bears AHL game at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
HERSHEY, PA - JANUARY 05: Hershey Bears left wing Liam OBrien (20) skates in the offensive zone during the Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Hershey Bears AHL game at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Washington Capitals made another investment into their prospect pool on Monday afternoon. This time it’s Liam O’Brien.

Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan made the announcement that they re-signed forward Liam O’Brien to a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,00.

This move just comes a few weeks after extending the contracts of Shane Gersich and Brian Pinho adding stock to the Hershey Bears lineup and perhaps the Capitals’ future based on how the left winger performs in the preseason.

Liam O’Brien was a mainstay with the Hershey Bears for the last five seasons and earned his stripes as an alternate captain last season. He had a decent year with 15 goals and 13 assists in 74 games.

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Although that is eighth on the team in scoring, O’Brien was clutch in 2018-19 with four-game winning goals. On the power play attack, O’Brien scored three times.

O’Brien has seen a bit of NHL action during his time in the Capitals organization.The undrafted free agent signed with the Capitals just prior to the 2014-15 season.

If there’s anything O’Brien has to improve in 2019-20 it’s to stay out of the sin bin. He led all forwards in penalty minutes with 118, an average of 1.59 penalty minutes per game. Part of that though is the viscous right hook.

O’Brien has gone up against a guy some Caps fans don’t necessarily like. Heck, he’s even fought against former Capital Matt Hendricks.

In a 4-1 Capitals win over the Pittsburgh Penguins back on Nov. 10, 2017 that saw Braden Holtby win his 200th game, O’Brien went up against Ryan Reaves. Yup, before he was with the Vegas Golden Knights Reaves was with that team from Pittsburgh.

As for the Matt Hendricks vs. O’Brien showdown, this came even earlier in O’Brien’s career: his rookie season. Oct. 22, 2014 was when this popcorn-worthy fight and the 20-year old prevailed.

O’Brien could potentially be a physical presence in the future but in the case of next season, it might have to be through a callup in case of an injury. The center depth is already in stock with Lars Eller’s contract extension in the middle of the 2017-18 season as well as Nic Dowd’s in March.

Nicklas Backstrom will be back for at least another season and Evgeny Kuznetsov was re-signed two summers ago but O’Brien has a chance to show the organization from top to bottom that he has what it takes.

Next. Brooks Orpik Report Card. dark

If he shoots for 20 goals, it will help a Bears offense that was needed from the playoffs against the newly crowned Calder Cup champion Charlotte Checkers.

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