Andreas Lilja

Andreas Lilja (b. July 13th 1975 in Helsingborg) is a retired Swedish professional defenceman. He is currently the assistant coach for Malmö Redhawks and for Danish National Team.

The Malmö IF Redhawks alumni was drafted to the NHL 54th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft; he made his NHL debuts the same year with Los Angeles Kings. Splitting time between the NHL and the AHL as a King, Lilja was eventually traded to the Florida Panthers in 2002-03; there, he finally became a regular.

Lilja spent the 2004-05 lock-out in the Elitserien with Mora IK. His stay in his homeland was however spoiled by accusations of an alleged gang rape of a 22 years old woman with fellow Swedish NHLers Kristian Huselius and Henrik Tallinder. The accusations were later dropped, but it was too late for Lilja, who had been suspended by Mora. He joined HC Ambri-Piotta for the NLA playoffs, but the team failed to go very far in the postseason.

Following the lock-out, Lilja joined the Detroit Red Wings and he stayed there until 2010. In his last season with Red Wings, Lilja also played four games for Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.

In 2010-11 NHL season, Lilja played with Anaheim Ducks. Next season played Lilja with Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and he also played one game for Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. In 2012-13 season, Lilja played mostly for Phantoms and played only four games for Flyers. Then he moved back to Europe to end his career.

His last two seasons played Lilja for Rögle BK of the Allsvenskan.

Lilja also played for Sweden at some small international tournaments.

After his player career, Lilja became a coach. He was the assistant coach of the Kristianstads IK of the Division 1 in the 2018-19 season and of the Allsvenskan in the 2019-20 season. Since 2019, Lilja is the assistant coach of the Danish National Team. Since 2020, Lilja is also the assistant coach of the Malmö Redhawks of the SHL.