It was reported on Wednesday that the Leafs were looking for a landing spot for the 25-year-old.
Despite reports suggesting that general manager Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs were eager to find a new home for defenseman Timothy Liljegren, new reports indicate that the club isn’t in any rush to move the 25-year-old.
On Friday, NHL insider Darren Dreger expressed that the Leafs are comfortable with their depth on defense, including Liljegren.
“Seems to be a lot of speculation around Liljegren and the Leafs. Toronto likes the depth they have on D,” Dreger wrote on X on Friday. “Two games in so there’s no imminent trade. Possibility? Sure. Nothing more than that at this point. Nothing front burner.”
Conversely, on Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported, “Sounds like Toronto is working to find a landing spot for Timothy Liljegren. He’s down the depth chart, not a situation anyone is happy with.”
And this is true, as Liljegren has yet to see any ice time in the regular season. On the depth chart, the Swede is slotted in as the seventh of eighth defenseman, based on practice last week.
Head coach Craig Berube is still looking for Liljegren to be “quicker,” recognizing he wants to be in the lineup, but needs to find his game on a consistent basis.
“Simplify the game a little bit more. If I had to say anything, simplify his game a little bit more. And just do your job as a defenseman, killing plays and being heavy,” said Berube.
Entering training camp on a new two-year, $6 million deal, Liljegren admitted that he hasn’t had the start to the season he was hoping for. Still, the Leafs seem to value having depth on the backend, as injuries and bumps in the road do happen throughout an 82 game season.
“I don’t know. I just haven’t really had that much flow in my game,” Liljegren said last week. “I think it’s been okay, but not my best hockey.”
As of Friday, it seems the situation has slightly shifted. While it’s not ruled out that a possible transaction could occur down the road, there appears to be nothing imminent at this time.
In the 2023-24 season, Liljegren scored three goals and 20 assists in 55 games averaging 19:40 of ice time.
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