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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…