Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan announced on Saturday morning that Liam O’Brien has been re-assigned to the Hershey Bears. His re-assignment could indicate that Brett Connolly could play tomorrow night. Connolly suffered an upper-body injury in a loss in late-October to the Canucks and was placed in the NHL’s concussion protocol during that game. 

FROM THE CAPITALS MEDIA RELEASE
The Washington Capitals have re-assigned forward Liam O’Brien to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

O’Brien, 23, played in three games for the Capitals this season, after making his season debut on Nov. 4 at Boston. O’Brien registered two points (one goal, one assist) and 28 penalty minutes in 17 career games with the Capitals. The 6’1”, 215-pound forward made his NHL debut on Oct. 9, 2014 against Montreal, earned his first NHL point with an assist on Oct. 14, 2014 against San Jose and scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 26, 2014 at Vancouver.

In nine games with Hershey this season, O’Brien, 23, has two goals and four penalty minutes. Last season, O’Brien recorded 30 points (10g, 20a) in 64 games with Hershey and ranked third on the team in penalty minutes (117), seventh in assists and ninth in points. O’Brien recorded a career-high three points (2g, 1a) on Dec. 30, 2016 against Bridgeport and registered seven multi-point games last season. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native has earned 56 points (23g, 33a) in 177 career AHL games with Hershey.

O’Brien signed with Washington as a free agent on Oct. 6, 2014.

O’Brien’s best game during his three games with the Capitals came against the Bruins. He had 13 shifts, played a total of 10:11 and had three hits in the Caps road win.

By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo

View this post on Instagram

Welcome back @official_big_tuna !

A post shared by NoVa Caps (@nova_caps) on Nov 2, 2017 at 8:19am PDT