With the season opener now just one sleep away, we’ve got a pretty good picture of what Toronto’s blue line could look like for the immediate future.
Unfortunately for Timothy Liljegren, things don’t look too promising for the 25-year-old right now.
Fresh off inking a two-year, $6 million contract extension this past summer, the Swede projects to be a healthy scratch on Wednesday night in Montreal.
Over the course of training camp – the first with Craig Berube in charge – it’s really felt like Liljegren’s fallen completely out of favour. Not only has the seldom-used Conor Timmins lapped him but it feels like NHL journeyman Philippe Myers is above him in the depth chart, too.
Any way you slice it, Liljegren has the next little while to figure things out. If he’s unable to, the Leafs will have to figure out what to do with him once Jani Hakanpää is cleared to return.
In the grand scheme of things, the extension didn’t make much sense, especially after seeing how things played out in training camp. Hindsight’s 20/20, though.
The main thing working against Liljegren – aside from his inconsistent play – is his size. He’s not a small dude – relatively speaking – but unfortunately, he plays small, which clearly doesn’t bode well in relation to the way this Leafs team wants to play.
And it’s not like Liljegren doesn’t have it in him to be a difference-maker. In his time as a Leaf, he’s shown spurts of steadiness. He’s just been unable to put it all together. In fact, I think you can draw a lot of comparisons to his good buddy Rasmus, who was dealt to Washington a few years ago. From his NHL debut, there have been unfair expectations, mostly because of where he was drafted. I just think he’s hit his ceiling, and on top of that, I think he’s been long overdue for a fresh start somewhere else. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Suddenly, Toronto has a crowded blue. One way or another, clarity is coming soon, and as time passes, it looks more and more like Timothy Liljegren’s days could be numbered in the blue and white.
