Toronto Maple Leafs: Timothy Liljegren at the Summer Showcase

The Toronto Maple Leafs have four prospects playing at this year’s World Juniors Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan.

Though there aren’t any Toronto Maple Leafs prospects on the Canadian roster, there are roster hopefuls on the other three teams. USA has goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman J.D. Greenway. Finland has hulking 6’7″ defenseman Eemeli Rasanen, whom the Leafs drafted in the second round this past June.

The prospect that Leafs fans will be most excited to watch is Timothy Liljegren. It’s well-known now that mononucleosis plagued his season last year. While he was no longer ill when the World Juniors rolled around last winter, he was left off Sweden’s final roster.

"It’s a huge goal for me to be on that [final] roster. I wanted to be on the world juniors last year but I had mono so it was a bit difficult, so I will try my best to get on that roster this year, said Liljegren in an interview with TSN’s Mark Masters.He wasn’t with us last year… He got sick and then was out for a long time and we didn’t feel he was in the [running] for the World Juniors,” said Tomas Monten, Sweden’s head coach for the World Juniors. “[We] tried to talk to him coming in that he doesn’t have a lot to prove [to us]… just to play his game and I think he did and I think he can be an asset for us."

Sweden vs. the United States

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Liljegren played alongside Philadelphia Flyers prospect Linus Hogberg. His odds to make the final roster are good, though he will likely be overshadowed by 2018-draft eligible Rasmus Dahlin (who dazzled at last year’s tournament as a 16-year old) and Vegas Golden Knights Erik Brannstrom. Both players sat out Sweden’s game against the United States, so that was where Liljegren jumped into the spotlight.

Through three games, Liljegren has one goal, one assist, ten shots on goal and is a +2. Just based on statistics alone, he looks pretty good.

The one knock on Liljegren is that his decision-making is questionable at times. He can also do too much with the puck. In the game against the US, he turned the puck over which allowed for an American scoring chance. Once he settled into the game, though, he made smarter plays, using his speedy skating to rush up the ice and create plays.

Monten’s assessment of Liljegren proves that Sweden knows exactly what they’re looking for him to do.

"He’s a skilled player, he’s gonna make skilled plays. He can’t just force them. He can’t just look for them all the time. [We] just make sure he plays 70% defensive defenseman, and then everything else [will] come."

Glimpses of Talent

The Overall Picture

Liljegren’s brief showing at the Summer Showcase has been a weight off of Leafs fans shoulders. He showed no ill-effects from his battle with mono last season. He didn’t hold back physically, either, punishing a few American players with body checks throughout the game.

Liljegren used his transition game to his advantage. He was able to enter and exit both zones quickly and efficiently. His excellent skating, puck-carrying ability, and deft passing allowed him to create chances in the offensive zone.

His defensive game still needs some work and until that improves, we probably won’t see him cracking the Leafs lineup this season. However, his play at the Showcase gives fans a small taste of what he can bring to Toronto’s blueline down the road.

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Liljegren and Sweden will face off against Canada next, 1 pm EST. They will take on Finland on August 5th, 4 pm EST.