Oilers Ought to Goal Disgruntled Maple Leaf

It is early, however the NHL hearsay mill is already buzzing.

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Elliotte Friedman revealed lots of fascinating nuggets in his 32 Thoughts column on Wednesday, certainly one of which being that the Toronto Maple Leafs are buying defenceman Timothy Liljegren. If that is true, then the Edmonton Oilers needs to be in on it.

Drafted seventeenth general by the Maple Leafs in 2017, Liljegren took a while to search out his footing within the NHL. He lastly earned a largely full-time roster spot in 2021-22, enjoying in 61 video games for Toronto. He adopted that up with 67 video games in 2022-23 and 55 final 12 months.

The 25-year-old Swede has typically had hassle staying within the lineup for the Maple Leafs, be it attributable to harm or falling down the depth chart. That is the place Liljegren finds himself to begin this season, shedding the third-pairing job to Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins.

Simply because he isn’t in an NHL high six does not imply he isn’t worthy of it, although, and the Maple Leafs know that. The younger righty has discovered himself crowded out by new Leafs Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev, and is on the skin trying in although no fault of his personal.

The upshot is that he is on the buying and selling block, in a state of affairs the Maple Leafs know nicely. When Liljegren first broke into the league, it was partly on the expense of fellow Swede Rasmus Sandin, regardless of Sandin’s superior numbers (an anticipated objectives share of 58% in Toronto, per Natural Stat Trick). They traded Sandin to the Washington Capitals on the 2023 commerce deadline, and needed to overpay Ekman-Larsson to interchange him within the lineup this previous summer season.

Liljegren has persistently put up good numbers with the Maple Leafs, garnering a profession xG% of 55% and an precise objectives% simply over 57% in Toronto. That is behind solely Timmins, Sandin, Travis Dermott, and Mark Giordano amongst Leafs defencemen since 2021-22. Liljegren additionally took on extra minutes per recreation than any of these gamers.

At 6’1″ and 200 kilos, Liljegren is not an imposing bodily presence, and he isn’t your conventional shutdown defender. However he is a sensible and regular participant with some respectable offensive instincts who drives play on each side of the puck.

It is comprehensible why the Leafs are rolling with Conor Timmins on the third pair — he is massive and has completely crushed the meagre minutes he is performed in Toronto. If it was him on the skin trying in, I would be saying the Oilers ought to goal him as an alternative. However a Leaf was at all times going to shake free from Toronto’s busy defence corps, and the Oilers needs to be ready to leap at whoever it’s.

There have been at all times going to be questions on the Oilers’ blueline. These questions aren’t going away after a disappointing performance within the season opener. Within the first 12 months of a two-year contract value $3 million yearly, Liljegren would match inside the Oilers’ wage cap for the following two years and nonetheless go away a bit of room so as to add one other ahead or a backup goalie afterward within the season.

It is typically mentioned that proper handed defencemen are essentially the most worthwhile commodity within the NHL, and among the many hardest to accumulate. If the Maple Leafs are attempting to commerce one away, particularly a 25-year-old with a powerful monitor file and extra to supply, why should not the Oilers go after him?

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