Jesper Lindgren

Playing career

Jesper Lindgren started playing youth hockey with IF Björklöven, then switched to Modo Hockey when he turned 18 on May 7, 2013. He first hit the ice in the Swedish Hockey League with Modo during the 2014–15 season. The Toronto Maple Leafs picked him 95th overall in the 2015 NHL draft. After wrapping up his first Liiga season with HPK in 2017–18, Lindgren took an amateur tryout deal with the Toronto Marlies on March 14, 2018.

He suited up for four regular-season games with the Marlies before they let him go on May 1, 2018, during their playoff push. Just over two weeks later, on May 18, 2018, he inked a three-year entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs. After going through Toronto’s training camp and preseason, the team loaned him back to HPK on September 17, 2018, for the 2018–19 season to get more ice time. On August 9, 2020, the Maple Leafs loaned him to Modo Hockey in the Allsvenskan to kick off the 2020–21 campaign.

Later that month, on August 25, 2020, he was swept up in a six-player trade that sent him, Kasperi Kapanen, and Pontus Åberg to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In return, the Maple Leafs got Evan Rodrigues, David Warsofsky, Filip Hållander, and the 15th overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft.