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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a logjam on defense, so Timothy Liljegren became the team’s latest topic of trade speculation.
Despite having a salary of $3 million per season, the 25-year-old Liljegren has been a healthy scratch through Toronto’s first three games. Although it’s looking likely he’ll play on Wednesday, he could become a trade asset if Leafs GM Brad Treliving finds the right move.
Related: What Does The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Future Hold With Marner, Tavares, McCabe And Liljegren?
That said, where is Liljegren likely to be dealt? We’ve got four NHL teams that stand out as potential destinations for the Swedish D-man. Salary information is according to PuckPedia.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are well into a full roster rebuild, and Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek amassed more than $20.3 million in salary cap space to make in-season additions to improve the short term and long term.
While the Ducks currently have two right-shot defensemen who are presumably ahead of Liljegren on the depth chart, Anaheim could slot in Liljegren on the third defense pair. Left-shot Brian Dumoulin is currently on the right side on a pairing with Pavel Mintyukov, and captain Radko Gudas is on the third pair, but Liljegren can play a depth role and then get consistent ice time if the Ducks trade Cam Fowler.
If it doesn’t work out with the Ducks, Liljegren can be flipped to another destination or allowed to play out his current contract, which expires at the end of next season. But playing in a smaller hockey market like Anaheim could be just what the doctor ordered for Liljegren, and the Ducks wouldn’t have to give up much to land his services. Anaheim has draft capital, and freeing cap space could help the Leafs add by the trade deadline.
San Jose Sharks
Like the Ducks, the Sharks are in the early stages of a full rebuild, but San Jose has $7.46 million in cap space – more than enough to acquire Liljegren without moving money out.
More importantly, the Sharks have all kinds of opportunities on the right side of their defense corps, with Matt Benning, Jan Rutta and Codi Ceci all at least 30 years old and not players who’d be top-tier blueliners on a legitimate Cup contender.
San Jose’s competitive window to win is barely open, giving Liljegren plenty of time to continue developing into a bona fide NHL D-man. He’d also be out of the glare and microscope that come with being in a hockey-mad market. Liljegren is still young enough to be part of San Jose’s long-term plans, and so long as his contract demands aren’t overly expensive, he can get what most likely will be the best opportunity he can get in hockey’s top league as a member of the Sharks.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues are looking to make the playoffs, so Liljegren would be expected to come in and contribute right away. But St. Louis has $5.22 million in cap space, and he’d be the third-best right-shot option on the back end for the team.
With veteran Torey Krug on the shelf for the season, St. Louis has more opportunities for someone like Liljegren to take advantage of. It’s unlikely that Liljegren will vault over right-shot D-men Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk, but if he can be an effective third-pair D-man, the Blues will be thrilled to give up a mid-round draft pick or decent prospect that will make the deal viable for Toronto. And for the Blues, which reportedly had interest in Fowler from Anaheim, adding Liljegren to improve the right side still leaves some cap space to upgrade on the left side if necessary.
Liljegren will have a better chance to carve out a long-term spot with St, Louis, and he’s not expensive enough to be out of reach for Blues GM Doug Armstrong. A deal with St. Louis easily could work for the Leafs, but it may take a few weeks for the Blues to be prepared to step up and add a relatively young athlete to the mix.
Related: NHL Rumor Roundup: Latest On Two Potential Ducks Trade Candidates And Panthers’ Bennett
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are the longest shot to land Liljegren on this list, as they’ve already got two right-handed ‘D’ on the third pair, so Liljegren might wind up being in the same situation as he’s in with Toronto. But if Philadelphia decides to move Rasmus Ristolainen – and that type of move might require Philly to retain some of Ristolainen’s $5.1-million salary for the next three years – Liljegren could jump into the Flyers’ top-six and stick around for the long haul.
Liljegren could have to play on the left side in Philadelphia, but he’d at least have a chance to play every night there. He doesn’t have that luxury now in Leafs Land, but Liljegren would likely welcome the opportunity to thrive in a market that loves its hockey.
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