'It Seemed Like He Was Feeling Well': When Timothy Liljegren Might Return to the Maple Leafs Lineup and a Calle Jarnkrok Update
Liljegren has been sidelined for the last two weeks with an upper-body injury, Jarnkrok's return seems further away.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren joined his teammates for the club's optional skate ahead of their game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
Liljegren, last played on March 26 in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils and it was revealed shortly after that he had sustained an upper-body injury. Following the club's 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Apr. 6, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about Liljegren and forward Calle Jarnkrok about the possibility of either player returning before the regular season ends.
"It's not ruled out. There's a chance," Keefe said. "Probably it would just be those last two games that would be good in consideration, but it's possible.
It's looking like Liljegren might be able to get into those games with the defenseman scheduled to take part in his first practice on Friday since the injury.
"I haven't got the report on how today has gone. But it seemed like he was feeling well," Keefe said of Liljegren on Thursday, acknowledging that Liljegren's return before the playoffs is possible. "We'll take it a day at a time from there."
Following Thursday's game against the Devils, the Leafs will have three games remaining in the regular season before the playoffs begin.
The outlook doesn't appear to be as clear for Jarnkrok.
The forward skated with skills staff on Thursday morning but has yet to join teammates on the ice. The forward suffered a hand injury on March 14 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Complicating matters for Toronto is that they only have $547,499 in cap space, per PuckPedia.com and activating Jarnkrok's $2.1 million cap hit would require clearing up $1.552 million. Toronto could send Matthews Knies ($925k) and Nick Robertson ($796,667) down temporarily to accommodate Jarnkrok for a game or two if they want to go that route. That would be the only way to activate Jarnkrok without putting anyone else on waivers first.
Liljegren has three goals and 20 assists in 52 games this season. As the Leafs begin to figure out which six defensemen will start for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, seeing where Liljegren is at in the regular season could be make or break for the Swede.
Jarnkrok has 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games. The forward also had a wrist injury in January that kept him out for an extended period of time.
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