Toronto Maple Leafs: Prospect Report and Liljegren Update

The Toronto Maple Leafs are close to having Timothy Liljegren back in the lineup.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without Liljegren all season so far as he recovers from a hernia.

Liljegren is with the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint for three games. Game one happened Wednesday night against the Syracuse Crunch, and Liljegren looked good.

I took in the game on Wednesday night and paid close attention to Liljegren. The young defenseman had hernia surgery during the off-season and missed training camp and preseason.

Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Report and Liljegren Update

These games with the Marlies will help Liljegren get up to speed.

From what I saw in game one of his conditioning stint, I think he’ll be just fine. He got used in all situations including five on five, power play, penalty kill and shorthanded while Syracuse had their goalie pulled for an extra attacker late in the 3rd period.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman looked good on Wednesday night. His timing was a little off, but he skated well. He made a nice play to set up Danny DeKeyser for the Marlies’ second goal of the game. The goal broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd period. Liljegren took the puck, skated around the Syracuse net, showed great patience, and passed it to DeKeyser in the slot.

https://twitter.com/TorontoMarlies/status/1585436346822414343

Another part of Liljegren’s game on display Wednesday night was his physical side. Shortly after using his stick to break up a two-on-one, Liljegren landed an open-ice hit on Gabriel Fortier inside the Marlies blueline. Nice to see him testing out all his abilities in the first game of his three-game stint with the Marlies.

During the Toronto Marlies game, I kept my eye on a few of the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects. My main focus was on Liljegren, but I also kept paying close attention to Joey Anderson, and goaltender Keith Petruzzelli.

Joey Anderson

Joey Anderson is one of those players on the cusp of being an NHL player shortly.

Anderson scored two goals on Wednesday night, including the Marlies’ fifth goal into the empty net. He now has four goals and three assists for seven points in five games. Adam Gaudette could have scored the empty net goal, but he passed the puck to Anderson. That goal gave Anderson his 100th AHL point. (Stats from eliteprospects.com)

Keith Petruzzelli

With Joseph Woll injured and Erik Kallgren playing backup for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Keith Petruzzelli is getting the chance to play regularly with the Marlies. On Wednesday, he made more than a few big saves to keep the Marlies in the game. Toronto’s win on Wednesday improved Petruzzelli’s record to 3-0-0 this season. He currently has a .924 SV% and 1.67 GAA.

The Toronto Marlies are currently in second place within the AHL’s North Division with a 3-2-0 record. They are tied with the Rochester Americans but have more regulation wins. Toronto is one point back of the Belleville Senators.