The Toronto Maple Leafs will be loading up at the trade deadline this spring.
Six weeks from now, the Toronto Maple Leafs will either have already made a huge trade or they will be in the process of making one.
Either way, it is nearly a one-hundred percent guarantee that they will be adding to their already great roster.
The Leafs are a team with preposterous depth, so they will likely not be getting any depth players. And, if they do, it will be low cost guys that other teams aren’t driving the price up on – insurance pieces.
It seems unlikely the Leafs would have interest in mid-range non-stars like Gavrikov or Edmunson or Domi.
What they will want to do is trade for a star player that is a major upgrade to what they have. The only thing is, they won’t be trading Timothy Liljegren to make it happen, as was suggested as a possibility today in the Athletic. (Not as a rumour, as far as I can tell, just the author spitballing on the cost of Horvat).
Toronto Maple Leafs Are Not Trading Liljegren
How do I know?
Simple.
It is next to impossible to get better while trading your best defenseman. Who is the Leafs best defenseman?
It’s Timothy Liljegren, and therefore he is going nowhere.
Also, he makes $1.5 million dollars, so if you were going to trade him, his value would be astronomical to teams already making the playoffs.
In the last two seasons, Liljegren has played 95 games, and when he’s on the ice the Toronto Maple Leafs get 54% puck possession, 58% of the shots, 57% of all types of scoring chances, and 58% expected goals.
In addition, Liljegren has outperformed his expected goals by a mile, and the Leafs have won his minutes 84-55 which is 60%. On top of all that, he only scores about one-fifth of a point less than Morgan Rielly every three or four games. (All stats 5v5 and from naturalstattrick.com).
All three of Sandin, Liljegren and Giordano have similarly insane numbers , but the results with Sandin on the ice are the best, by far.