The Toronto Maple Leafs have 1/2 of their top four defeseman on the injured reserve.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost Jake Gardiner to back spasms, and he could be facing surgery. They also lost Travis Dermott to a separated shoulder, and he’ll miss about a month.
The team has been using Martin Marincin, Justin Holl and Igor Ozhiganov to fill in. Considering they’ve also been stuck using Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey, and that they failed to bring anyone else in at the trade deadline, it’s time for a hailmary.
Enter Timothy Lijegren.
Timothy Liljegren
Drafted 17th overall in 2017, the right handed Liljegren was said to be one of the AHL’s best ever 18 year old defenseman last year. While his stock may have fallen some, Liljegren remains an excellent NHL prospect with a ton of potential.
The Leafs, when healthy, have been suffering from a lineup imbalance of too many left-handed Defenseman. Not only are five of their top six options left handed, so is their entire top four (based on skill level, not deployment) of Rielly, Gardiner, Muzzin and Dermott.
The Leafs are currently using Holl, Marincin, Ozhiganov, Hainsey and Zaitsev – can a rookie really be any worse?
The Leafs do like to over-ripen players in the minors (see Johnsson and Kapanen) but there is precedent for a move like this under their current regime: Travis Dermott has only played 10 more AHL games than Timothy Liljegren has.
Maybe the Leafs would call up Liljegren and it would prove to be too early. If that’s the case, they can always send him back. But what is the harm in trying?
There’s about 18 games left in the season, and about a 99% chance of facing the Bruins. This means that the Leafs, knowing their probable opponent and almost assured of a playoff spot, can have some freedom to experiment.
The downside is maybe they lose a couple of games and send Liljegren back to the minors. The upside though, is easily worth the risk. If the Leafs discover that the talented, smooth skating, right handed puck-mover is NHL ready, then suddenly their team is that much better.
When Gardiner and Dermott return, they’d have a have a better right handed option than Nikita Zaitsev. They might even be able to cut down on the minutes they give to Ron Hainsey.
Some people will say that Liljegren is not ready, but the fact is, he might be. It’s easy to play it safe and slough off the idea of taking a risk, but in this situation the risk is minimal and the reward is high. The situation – two top four defenseman out for weeks, and a playoff spot already assured – allows for experimentation.
The Toronto Maple Leafs would be silly not to give Liljegren a tryout with the big club over the next week or two.