According to a new report from Elliotte Friedman, the Toronto Maple Leafs are working on finding a new spot for Timothy Liljegren.
After a rough training camp, and subsequent demotion off the opening night lineup, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise. With a $3M cap hit, it wouldn’t make sense to keep him around if he’s not contributing, and now the question is where he’ll end up.
The former first-round pick has played 196 regular season games for the Leafs, notching 14 goals and 65 points. He routinely found himself on the outside looking in during the playoffs, unable to solidify his spot in the Toronto defence corps.
Wasted opportunity
Coming in to his draft year, Liljegren was seen as a top-end prospect. He fell to the Leafs at 17 after mono derailed his season, but his ceiling was still very high after the 2017 NHL Draft.
And in brief moments, Leaf Nation has seen that ceiling in action. For stints, Liljegren has shown legit top-four potential, a great puck mover who can hold his own anywhere on the ice.
But for the most part, Liljegren has been rough in his own end, especially along the boards, and hasn’t lived up to his offensive potential.
He’s not physical enough, but also doesn’t move the puck well enough to force transition offence. He’s not bad at much, but he’s also not very good at much. It’s a weird spot for a player to be, and it seems the Leafs aren’t willing to give him time to try to improve.
A chance somewhere else
It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Liljegren blossoms somewhere else, especially if he’s given a ton of ice time. Whoever acquires him will see him as a project, and should give him the chance to grow within their systems.
Maybe Liljegren never becomes the puck-moving top-four guy, but no one will be shocked if he does.
The return for Liljegren won’t be much, so he’ll probably end up on a rebuilding team ready to give him 20 minutes a night and powerplay time.
He’s battled a lot in his career, and hopefully lands somewhere he can flourish.
It just doesn’t seem like it can happen in Toronto.
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