The Toronto Maple Leafs have opened their regular season account and set their lineup. There were two regulars from last season left out of that lineup, one of those guys is Bobby McMann. A more surprising name left out as a healthy scratch is defenceman Timothy Liljegren. He was replaced by Conor Timmins on opening night as the third-pairing defenceman.
Leafs Looking to Give Liljegren a New Home
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Maple Leafs are looking to “find a landing spot” for Liljegren. In the offseason, Toronto signed the Swedish defenceman to a new contract. They extended him for another two years. Across those two years, Liljegren will earn an AAV of $3M. Compared to almost every team in the NHL, $3M against the salary cap is a big chunk for a third-pairing D-man.
On the Leafs depth chart, Liljegren sits lower than he did before the end of last season. It all changed for him when general manager Brad Treliving got the phones working in free agency. They added a handful of defencemen including Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Philippe Myers. After training camp and preseason, Liljegren fell down the lineup. There’s an understanding that the 25-year-old is not happy with where he stands on the roster. However, Toronto’s management isn’t happy either as they expect more out of him and are disappointed because they want him to do well.
Chances are that the Leafs won’t get much in return for a Liljegren trade, given the fact that they are right up against the cap. It would most likely be a move that frees some more space financially. Also, it would clear up some of the clusters of blueliners on the depth chart.
What does he Bring to the Table?
Liljegren was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2017 draft. Throughout his development, there was some hope that he could be a solid top-four D-man with some offensive upside. However, while he’s probably an NHL regular on a lot of teams in the league, at this point in his career, he’s looking in from the outside.
For a $3M defenceman, and someone who had some noise coming out of the draft, it’s been a little disappointing. He’s played three straight full seasons with the Maple Leafs and hasn’t provided anything new. His abilities are middle of the pack in every department including skating, offence, and defence. Liljegren doesn’t provide anything different that a cheaper option can’t provide. Timmins is a great example of that as he makes nearly $2M less.
Shedding some of Liljegren’s cap would also allow Toronto to find ways to improve their depth down the middle of the ice. It’s clear they want to move John Tavares down to the third line. The William Nylander at centre trial made that evident. So maybe that gives them some room to find a second-line centre or anything else that Treliving desires. There was a similar situation with fellow Swede Rasmus Sandin not too long ago. He wasn’t getting minutes and struggled to find some consistency in the team. Eventually, he was traded to the Washington Capitals and has slowly regressed.
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
