Toronto Maple Leafs: Thoughts on the Timothy Liljegren Extension

Late Monday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that defenseman Timothy Liljegren signed a two-year contract extension. The new deal is for $2.8 million with an average annual value of $1.4 million against the salary cap.
(Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)

Getting Liljegren signed to a two-year extension for under $1.5 million a season is a win for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Liljegren is receiving an annual raise of just over $537,000. The Leafs keep one of their young defensemen for a very reasonable price.

Many hockey insiders around the NHL speculated that Dubas did not want to spend more than $2.5 million a season on either of his two young defensemen. Seeing him get Liljegren signed for under $1.5 million annually is a job well done.

Liljegren scored at nearly a 50 point pace last year despite few, if any, power-play minutes.  He posted great stats across the board, and even received several votes for the Calder trophy.

Liljegren excelled when the Leafs acquired Mark Giordano, and his new contract is very low risk because he has already performed at a level worth at least what he’s being paid, and he has the potential to be even better.

Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Liljegren

Liljegren is the second defenseman the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed this off-season. On May 22nd, Toronto announced that they re-signed veteran defenseman, Mark Giordano. His new deal is also for two years. After Giordano was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline, he spent a lot of time playing with Liljegren. The two made a good pair, and there is a good chance they will remain a pair for the next two seasons.

Giordano’s new deal carries an AAV of $800,000 for the next two seasons. For $2.2 million, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas can potentially pair of Giordano and Liljegren together for two more seasons. If Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff see this pair as their second pairing, the end is near for Justin Holl and Jake Muzzin.

Both Holl ($2 million) and Muzzin ($5.625 million) cost too much to be the team’s third pairing. Trading both would free up some much-needed salary-cap space. Toronto is also working on acquiring or signing a starting goaltender. The more cap space they have, the better.

I think the contract extension for Liljegren is a great deal for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’m hoping they’re able to sign Sandin to a similar extension, and soon.