It was a trade many were waiting for in the Toronto Maple Leafs community and it happened Wednesday night when former first round pick Timothy Liljegren was traded to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of draft picks and a veteran depth defenseman.
In return for the Swedish defenseman the Toronto Maple Leafs acquire a third round pick in 2025, a sixth round selection in 2026 and 30-year old defender Matt Benning.
Frank Seravalli confirmed that the third round pick appears to be a conditional pick as the Sharks own both the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers selections, which the Maple Leafs will get whatever is the higher of the two.
General Manager Brad Treliving along with new coach Craig Berube all but sabatoged any value Liljegren might have had, so the return here is impressive, as far as that goes. The real question is did the Leafs give up too early on a solid RHD who has 200 career games of winning his minutes.
Toronto Maple Leafs trade Timothy Liljegren
Benning was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft but after not signing an entry level deal he became a free agent and signed on with the Edmonton Oilers where he became an effective depth defenseman averaging 15:45 of ice-time over four seasons between 2016-2020. He has since had stints in both Nashville and was in the third season of a four-year deal with the Sharks that he signed back in the summer of 2022 which carries a cap hit of $1.25 Million.
The Edmonton, Alberta native missed nearly all of last season with a hip injury that required surgery and limited him to just 14 games. It is unclear what the plan is with Benning, but it is likely that he will be placed on waivers with the intent to send him to the Marlies. If he clears waivers, all but $100,000 of his cap hit will be buried.
Liljegren had a rough go under the Craig Berube regimen as he played in just one of ten games to start the season after never fully earning the trust of previous coach Sheldon Keefe. The Swedish born defenseman now joins a long list of first round picks made by the Toronto Maple Leafs that never worked out.
It is expected that Jani Hakanpää and Connor Dewar are going to be coming of the long term injured reserve (LTIR) this weekend, which meant Treliving had to find a way to clear up cap space.