{"id":453481,"date":"2024-10-19T08:30:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T12:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=453481"},"modified":"2024-10-18T22:03:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T02:03:33","slug":"maple-leafs-defenceman-ideal-pittsburgh-penguins-trade-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/10\/19\/maple-leafs-defenceman-ideal-pittsburgh-penguins-trade-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs Defenceman is an Ideal Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> defenceman Timothy Liljegren<\/a> is the perfect acquisition for the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> to bridge the present and future of the team. The Pittsburgh Penguins have found themselves in a delicate balancing act between staying competitive during the Crosby-Malkin era and building for the future. An area of concern is the Penguins defensive depth on the right side. A defenceman like Timothy Liljegren, a 24-year-old puck-moving defenceman on the Toronto Maple Leafs presents an ideal trade option. Here\u2019s why Liljegren fits the Penguins\u2019 organizational needs.<\/p>\n

Navigating Cap Constraints<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Acquiring Liljegren means making room for his cap hit of $3 million per season. However, the Penguins have a couple of realistic ways to clear space. A few contracts could be moved out.<\/p>\n

Noel Acciari<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

At $2 million per season, Acciari\u2019s contract would not be too difficult to offload. The organization has picked up a great amount of bottom-six depth since Acciari\u2019s signing, making him potentially redundant. Forwards like Rutger McGroarty<\/a>, Jesse Puljuj\u00e4rvi,<\/a> and Valtteri Puustinen<\/a> have been scratched due to the logjam at forward that could be lessened with an Acciari move. Although he provides valuable defensive play on the fourth line, the aforementioned players are fully capable of providing similar results on cheaper contracts.<\/p>\n

Tristan Jarry<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Pittsburgh Penguins were already linked to trade rumours involving starting netminder Jarry<\/a> early in the summer. He carries a $5.375 million cap hit for the next four seasons. While trading him could be risky, it would open the door for Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a> and Joel Blomqvist<\/a> to take over goaltending duties. Jarry has struggled in important games throughout his career, and his price tag is inflated compared to his play. Finding a trade partner for Jarry wouldn\u2019t be easy, although teams like the Colorado Avalanche are in desperate need of solid goaltending.<\/p>\n

Ryan Graves<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Struggling on the third pairing while earning $4.5 million per season, moving on from Ryan Graves would make sense even without the acquisition of Timothy Liljegren. Graves has not lived up to expectations with the Penguins, and his bloated salary could be allocated much better if spread to Liljegren and elsewhere in the lineup.<\/p>\n

Addressing the Penguins\u2019 Right-Handed Defensive Depth Issue<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A need of the Pittsburgh Penguins is shoring up their right-handed depth with a third pairing defenceman. Kris Letang<\/a> and Erik Karlsson<\/a> are no slouches, both are elite offensive defencemen. However, they are the only reliable right-handed options on defence on the roster. Beyond the pair, the Penguin\u2019s defensive depth is filled with fringe left-handed defenceman. This imbalance forces head coach Mike Sullivan<\/a> to play a left-handed defenceman on their off-side. This is not necessarily sustainable when the pairing made to perform like this also has to isolate and shelter Ryan Graves on the third pairing.<\/p>\n

Timothy Liljegren\u2019s right-handed shot and puck-moving ability would address this weakness on the third pairing immediately. He can comfortably slot into the third pairing alongside the slew of defensive options the Penguins can pair him with. He would be useful on the second power play unit as well since both Letang and Karlsson play on the Penguin\u2019s top unit.<\/p>\n

Focusing on Future Defensive Depth<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Penguins\u2019 long-term defensive depth is another area needing attention. Although Letang and Karlsson are key contributors at the moment, both are in the twilight of their careers. The Penguins lack a defenceman in their prospect system that plays a similar style as well. Owen Pickering<\/a> is a promising two-way, left-handed defenceman. However, he is not a natural puck-mover in a similar sense to Liljegren. Meanwhile, prospect Harrison Brunicke is likely a couple of years away from being NHL-ready.<\/p>\n

At just 24 years old, Timothy Liljegren represents a bridge connecting the present and future of the Penguin\u2019s defence. He is a young and NHL-ready puck-moving defenceman. Even with nearly 200 games of NHL experience, he still has room to grow. Acquiring Liljegren would allow the Penguins the opportunity to mould a player with high upside into a capable top-four defenceman. His role will only grow more important as Karlsson and Letang decline.<\/p>\n

Potential Low-Cost Acquisition with High Upside<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Timothy Liljegren finds himself in a crowded Maple Leafs system<\/a>. He has had to compete with various players that have hopped over him in the defensive depth chart. He has not played in the Leaf\u2019s first three games of the season and would likely come to Pittsburgh at a relatively low cost. The Penguins organization has had experience buying low on skilled but struggling players before. Justin Schultz<\/a> was moved from Edmonton in 2016 for just a third-round pick. Following some time in the Penguins system, Schultz\u2019s production exploded in Pittsburgh when given the chance to develop his game.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: A Move for the Present and Future<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Timothy Liljegren checks all the boxes for what the Pittsburgh Penguins currently need in a defenceman. Right-handed, young, with offensive upside. Although acquiring him would require some cap-clearing moves, his potential outweighs his perceived risks. Liljegren would provide immediate support to the Penguin\u2019s third pairing while simultaneously positioning the organization to have a solid top-four defensive option for when Letang and Karlsson\u2019s careers are done. With the right moves, general manager Kyle Dubas could acquire Liljegren at a reasonable cost from his former team. A potential Liljegren acquisition could ultimately shift the Penguins blueline for years to come.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Eric Hartline – USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren is the perfect acquisition for the Pittsburgh Penguins to bridge the present and future of the team. The Pittsburgh Penguins have found themselves in a delicate balancing act between staying competitive during the Crosby-Malkin era and building for the future. An area of concern is the Penguins defensive depth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":444267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4547,4548],"tags":[550,544,259,1872,6226,2368,140,924,477],"class_list":["post-453481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penguins","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-erik-karlsson","tag-evgeni-malkin","tag-kris-letang","tag-noel-acciari","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-analysis","tag-ryan-graves","tag-sidney-crosby","tag-timothy-liljegren","tag-tristan-jarry"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}