How has Liljegren been doing since the trade?

Orfieus

Registered User
Nov 2, 2012
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Atlantic Canada
I was a massive Liljegren fan, watched every AHL game he played and saw him live once and I was really disappointed when he was traded to you guys. He had rough days when playing for the Leafs just wondering how is he playing over here? Is he mainly on the 3rd pairing? Does he get PP/PK time?
 
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He's mainly a second pairing guy, and he has seen only limited PP minutes.

I think he came as advertised - a mid D man who shows flashes of puck moving and offensive creation, and some bad puck decisions, as well as flashes of turnstile / soft defense, as well as the occasional good D play. In general, because of how absolutely terrible our D corps is, he definitely made us marginally better.

I don't think he's going to break out but he'll probably bounce around as a third pairing guy for a bunch more years.
 
It's partially because he's on a weak second unit, but by my eye he sucks on the PP. We've played some 5 forwards when Walman was injured which tells me Warso thinks something similar. That said, he's been solid. Moves the puck, tries defensively. I don't think he's soft, but he's not strong. Got absolutely bodied on a goal against last night. He shouldn't be in a top 4, but he's our second or third best d-man by a mile. I'd probably consider extending him for 2-3 years at $4M as I'm not convinced we're going to have three better RHD over the next four years. I can see us acquiring two that are better, but not sure about three.
 
It's partially because he's on a weak second unit, but by my eye he sucks on the PP. We've played some 5 forwards when Walman was injured which tells me Warso thinks something similar. That said, he's been solid. Moves the puck, tries defensively. I don't think he's soft, but he's not strong. Got absolutely bodied on a goal against last night. He shouldn't be in a top 4, but he's our second or third best d-man by a mile. I'd probably consider extending him for 2-3 years at $4M as I'm not convinced we're going to have three better RHD over the next four years. I can see us acquiring two that are better, but not sure about three.
The only way I'd extend Liljegren is if there are two better RHD in front of him. I would argue that there is nothing about his game that is better than a guy like Jack Thompson. Liljegren makes a lot of huge mistakes on the ice.
 
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It's partially because he's on a weak second unit, but by my eye he sucks on the PP. We've played some 5 forwards when Walman was injured which tells me Warso thinks something similar. That said, he's been solid. Moves the puck, tries defensively. I don't think he's soft, but he's not strong. Got absolutely bodied on a goal against last night. He shouldn't be in a top 4, but he's our second or third best d-man by a mile. I'd probably consider extending him for 2-3 years at $4M as I'm not convinced we're going to have three better RHD over the next four years. I can see us acquiring two that are better, but not sure about three.
Agreed, definitely not PP material. But at evens, Liljegren is a passable bottom pairing RD, so he's been fine.
 
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He's this year's Calen Addison IMO. He has better offensive instincts than most of our D but he's pretty useless in his own end. On a team with a better D-corp, I don't think would justify a regular spot in the lineup. That said, he's definitely been one of our top 4 D this year. 🫠

Seems like I might be lower on Liljegren than most though. I'm kind of surprised to see how many people seem up for resigning him. I wonder how much of that has to do with him being a righty.
 
He started his stint with the Sharks strong but then was paired with Ferraro who has made every Dman he's been paired with worse, and Liljegren hasn't been able to escape that. He hasn't bounced back even when paired with someone else and at least once again he has me rolling my eyes at some read or getting caught puck watching.
 
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He started his stint with the Sharks strong but then was paired with Ferraro who has made every Dman he's been paired with worse, and Liljegren hasn't been able to escape that. He hasn't bounced back even when paired with someone else and at least once again he has me rolling my eyes at some read or getting caught puck watching.
Liljegren has made plenty of mistakes this year that have nothing to do with who his defensive partner. All of our defensemen have made repeated mistakes that can't be blamed on who their defensive partner is.

And yes, any interest in keeping him is because he's right-handed.
 
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