Timothy Liljegren signed a two-year, $6 million contract extension this past summer to stay in Toronto, and right after his new deal was announced, interestingly enough, trade rumours started to swirl.
While some trade chatter is certainly the status quo surrounding the Maple Leafs during the summer months, hearing a player’s name involved in speculation right after signing an extension was a new one. The trade buzz has extended throughout training camp and leading into the 2024-25 regular season. The 25-year-old defenceman has not had a good training camp or preseason, and he’s recently admitted, he’s aware there’s a potential for change.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube hasn’t been shy with his comments about Liljegren’s game to the media, admitting he’d like the defenceman to be heavier on pucks, and make plays quicker with more intention. Liljegren didn’t dress in the Maple Leafs’ preseason finale, and he’s quickly become a potential trade candidate. Moving his $3 million cap hit could free up some significant financial flexibility for GM Brad Treliving.
Here are three potential trade destinations for the former first-round pick:
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are trying to build an eventual contender. GM Pat Verbeek knows it requires drafting and developing some stars, but the savvy executive also tried to sign Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault this past summer, so you know there’s an appetite to win sooner than later.
Anaheim have loads of cap space, and it has Radko Gudas as its lone right-handed top-six defenceman. They could certainly provide Liljegren with an opportunity to play more on special teams. Considering he’s still just 25 and has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his tenure in Toronto, moving onto the Ducks and into a new role could really do wonders for his game. Liljegren’s underlying numbers actually aren’t as bad as many think and Anaheim could be a perfect destination for the Maple Leafs’ blueliner to hit the reset button on his career.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are also rebuilding and like the Ducks, are a team the Leafs can make a deal with and not have to worry about ensuring the math adds up. Chicago has $5.9 million in projected cap space heading into the new year and GM Kyle Davidson showed throughout the offseason that he has some interest in former Leafs, signing both Tyler Bertuzzi and TJ Brodie, along with trading for Ilya Mikheyev.
Chicago doesn’t have a ton of depth as far as right-handed defensemen go, after sending down former first-round pick Kevin Korchinski days ago. It’s obvious they feel he could use more time to develop in the AHL before being over-exposed to the big club. Adding Liljegren could give the Blackhawks a chance to take their time with Korchinski, and also give the 20-year-old someone to look up to in Liljegren, who has played under immense pressure in Toronto, as a former first-round pick.
The Blackhawks are rebuilding, but as Davidson showed throughout the summer, they’re also re-tooling on the fly and he’s comfortable adding players to his team, regardless of their age. With Liljegren being 25, there’s still some untapped potential to his game, which could draw Davidson in.
St Louis Blues
A trade with the Blues would be a bit different, as they don’t have near the cap space of the Blackhawks or Ducks. St. Louis lost Torey Krug for the season due to ankle surgery, and do have some question marks among its depth defencemen.
The Blues are going to lean on Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko a ton on the right side, and adding Liljegren could help balance things out among their bottom pair. It could be a situation where Liljegren could get a look on the second power-play unit alongside Scott Perunovich.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong has been trying to re-tool his team for a couple of years now, and really emphasized changes on the back end this past offseason, bringing in Philip Broberg, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and Ryan Suter. And this was before Krug announced he was finished for the year. All three of the new d-men are left-handed, so Liljegren could be a welcomed addition.
Playing behind Faulk and Parayko gives Liljegren two experienced blueliners to learn from, as Faulk is super effective offensively. Parayko loves to battle and is very tough to play against defensively. It would just be very interesting to see how the money would work.
Nevertheless, there’s some changes on the way in Toronto, as Treliving and company look to fill out their roster and sneak in under the salary cap by the roster deadline. With Liljegren struggling throughout training camp and appearing to now be the odd man out, it would make a ton of sense for the Maple Leafs to move on and provide him with a change of scenery.
