Confirmed with Link: Leafs Trade: Liljegren to San Jose for Matt Benning, 3rd and 6th

[NinjaKick]

never reached that extra step with us, maybe a change of scenery will do him good. hopefully benning is a diamond in the rough, but I think this was more about cap space.

 

[Star Platinum]

Dont be surprised if he plays 20 games and gets benched. He is a good backward skater, good one timer that never got used. He has trouble reading the game, thats his biggest issue.

We have the worst stable of RH defensemen in the league bar none and no prospects in the system that are RH and anywhere near being ready to help. Just being right-handed will insure he gets lot of opportunities.

And winning is not the real objective for our franchise right now anyway. Even with our prospect pool now being rated near the top of the league, Celebrini, Will Smith (who has yet to record his first NHL point and has been struggling), and Sam Dickinson are really our only elite level prospects. We need a couple more years of high lottery selections, Celebrini to get off injured reserve, and Smith to figure out the NHL game before we start to scrape ourselves off of the bottom of the league.

 

[fahad203]

I think we did have some but dubas traded them away

- Trever Moore
- Verhaeghe
- Grundstrom
- Durzi

from what i recall

then i think 2020 was an absolutely BUST draft; and 2021 and 2023 we just didnt have enough picks thanks again to dubas paying extra for other teams to eat 50% of the cap at TDL because Leafs just didn't have enough cap space

Verhaege is from 2013, Nonis pick.
Moore was a FA signing out of college

I still can't believe we picked Yegor Korshkov in 2016 when Debrincat was available

2020 is still a mystery to me. We had 12 draft picks and nothing to show for

 

[sxvnert]

Finally the Lili era is over.

 

[trellaine201]

Do we have $3M in cap space? Puckopedia seems to suggest that?

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Crap return but not going to get much for Liljegren by overpaying him then sitting him all year.

 

[notbias]

Do we have $3M in cap space? Puckopedia seems to suggest that?

I think we can activate some people off LTIR, not sure this opens up much usable space.

@ULF_55 is usually good with the cap I think, he may know, or Kyle Cushman will have a good breakdown of this at some point.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851763339002523996

 

[Evilhomer]

Anton Strålman all over again. Oh well, don’t know anything about Benning but hopefully he’s useful for us.

Spoiler: Benning is a nothing. Maybe he's an 8th defenseman on this team on a good day. But it is what it is.

 

[Stephen]

I’d expect Liljegren to play top 4 on the worst team in the league. He’ll probably fit in and do okay. But he is wasn’t going to be that helpful on a team with winning aspirations.

 

[diceman934]

Sharks fan here. He got injured last year and it seemed as though he was still knocking the rust off with us. Had been sat recently for Jack Thompson, a young RHD that we called up, but then got back in the lineup the past few games. He was our bottom pairing RHD and we have the worst defense in the league, so I wouldn't have much of an expectation from him. Sounds like just a straight cap dump and you needed a RHD in return for the deal (not unlike the Ceci deal we did with Edmonton in the offseason).

Curious about why you're all down on him. I know Toronto is not known for having good defenders in general, but what are his struggles and are there things that he does well? I wouldn't expect we'd be getting a player without issues back given how little we gave up.

He has had stretches of games where he looks real solid. He real needed a change of scenery and we will see how that pans out. He could turn out to be a real steal or a bust. I think with a coach he can instill confidence in him he will thrive.

 

[horner]

Holy shit. Someone on this board literally mentioned benning earlier today . Sharks is a great team for Liljegren to go to and grow his game

Whats the cap savings on this deal?

He will do good lots of time to grow his game no pressure.
He needed a change of scenery.

 

[DarkKnight]

That pick will come in handy at the deadline too when we load up, as will the cap space.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

I think we can activate some people off LTIR, not sure this opens up much usable space.

@ULF_55 is usually good with the cap I think, he may know, or Kyle Cushman will have a good breakdown of this at some point.

We're still at 23 players so someone will have to get waived to activate anyone.

 

[notbias]

We're still at 23 players so someone will have to get waived to activate anyone.

Edited my post above, but Cushman thinks Dewar/Hakanpaa are easy, just waive Myers and Benning, and then it is less clear when Jarnkrok is back (hopefully waive Reaves).

 

[supermann_98]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851762561454084275

Absolutely atrocious drafting and development during this time.

Especially who was available and our scouting staff passed on ...

Ouch

Not to mention Adam Fox who was taken in the 3rd round in 2016. If they hit on even ONE of these guys (Chytil is debatable) they are a dynasty. Not being able to draft outside the top 10 is why they're a perennial loser come playoff time imo.

 

[BraveCanadian]

As I said in another thread. Good for him- should get a real chance to play.

Horrendous management by the Leafs.

 

[Evilhomer]

Doesn't really change my thoughts or position

He really won't be a loss. It will be no different than Sandin. No one will give him much thought again. The return for him will be equally unmemorable. Just a wash all around.

 

[William Hylander]

This is a very stupid saga
1. We sign Liljegren to a horrible contract
2. We don't play him, because of the coach seeing something in preseason. Tank his value.
3. We trade him for a 3rd and 6th, but we have to take a defenseman that SJ doesn't value. And considering their place in the standings I imagine Benning is straight waiver fodder. Thst defenseman is on a deal for next season...

 

[Stephen]

As I said in another thread. Good for him- should get a real chance to play.

Horrendous management by the Leafs.

Not exactly. Getting rid of Liljegren's contract allows Toronto to activate some combination of Dewar, Hakanpaa and Jarnkrok when time comes and the temporary carrying cost of signing him yielded a 3rd and a 6th. Benning is whatever. Not genius level work but if Lilypad doesn't have value you still got what you needed to out of the situation.

 

[stickty111]

Overall not a bad recovery. A 3rd and 6th is manageable. Still should have never come to this point. This team's record of developing D continues to be embarrassing.

For all the people mocking me. I care about the team over players. Nazem Kadri and Phil Kessel are my favorites but they traded them and it was for the betterment of the team.
Grow up folks. Man this place is filled with children disguised as adults

 

[nuck]

I like it. Benning is a safer 3rd pairing option than Timmins. In fact with the Oilers he was a pretty good 5-6, they just didn't want to qualify him at almost $2M. If he can get back to being that guy thats a win.

 

[DarkKnight]

As I said in another thread. Good for him- should get a real chance to play.

Horrendous management by the Leafs.

He had a ton of chances to succced here, his inability to play consistently is why he's gone. This idea he was hard done by here is whack.

 

[Rare Jewel]

F##k off Brad.

 

[htpwn]

As I said in the summer, I liked Liljegren's potential, but even my belief was flagging by the end of last year. I didn't support trading him then, but with the way this season started, it was inevitable.

A bit surprised we got a 3rd round pick given the contract, but it isn't a bad chance for San Jose to take. Liljegren has shown flashes and has had decent underlying numbers, just hasn't been able to do it consistently at a high-level.

I do think it is a revisionist to criticize picking him at #17. He was a good prospect who played a position of need. I hope, if he does figure out, we don't hear similar revisionism in the future: Because he had his chances. At this point, it was never going to happen here.

 

[mogs]

I can't think of a single memorable play he made in his entire career here. Just a guy.