Veteran Toronto Maple Leafs Players in Danger of Losing Their Roster Spots

Liljegren and Benoit

It took a little while for restricted free-agent defenseman Timothy Liljegren and the Leafs to decide they wanted to continue their partnership. Both sides eventually agreed to a two-year extension.

Despite the commitment, it feels as though the former first-round pick's status is to be determined. After three full NHL seasons, the Leafs are unsure of what they have.

Liljegren is an adept puck-mover with offensive skill but has yet to find consistency and develop into a reliable top-four defenseman. Part of that can be blamed on Keefe's lack of confidence and trust in his play, as Liljegren has shown he can dominate 3rd pairing minutes at least.

With Berube at the helm, a new opportunity presents itself for Liljegren. For now, he is safely entrenched among the top six, but a slow start to the year without any progress in his play could see the Maple Leafs ready to move on. They made a similar decision with former first-rounder Rasmus Sandin.

His contract, short term at a reasonable salary, provides no barriers to a move. He is only 25 years old. Working in his favor is that the Leafs defense looks to have Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev and Simon Benoit - all of whom are below average puck-movers, meaning Liljegren has rare skills that the Leafs are going to need on a nightly basis.

More likely to lose his job to a propect like Niemela or Kokkanen is Simon Benoit who looks to be the Leafs #6 for now, but who was almost replaced earlier in the summer by Jani Hakanpaa.

Benoit's position as a regular is tenous at best, and he could easily lose his minutes to a puck-mover with higher upside.

Tracking the prospects of Niemela, Cowan and Minten will be the highlight of the Toronto Maple Leafs preseason. Their talent and potential might leave the Leafs no choice but to say goodbye to some veteran players.