Confirmed with Link: Sharks acquire Timothy Liljegren from Maple Leafs for Matt Benning, conditional 3rd and 6th

[ponder]

Leafs fan, you guys will like him IMO. He never really found his groove/confidence in Toronto, but he’s a talented, jack of all trades dman, who has played like a top 4 dman at times. He’ll have a great opportunity to get heavy minutes/responsibility in SJ, and I’ll bet he thrives with it, and becomes a legit top 4 dman, full stop.

Scouting report wise, he skates pretty well, is stocky and does well in puck battles, and is a very good 1:1 defender - great gap control, hard to beat off the rush. Probably has untapped offensive potential, above average shot and can be a decent puck mover. The tools are “top 4, 2-way dman,” the confidence and consistency has never been there, but a fresh start in SJ could change that.

 

[LadyStanley]

Wore #37 in Toronto.

My guess is there may be a 1-2 day delay due to visa issues before he can play.

There's the potential that Cags or Shakir might be recalled for Thursday's game.

 

[hohosaregood]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851851315896348744

 

[Hangemhigh]

I like this trade. Better fit than Benning. Maybe Lily can increase the value of Ferraro. Shame about the 3rd, but they can get it back before the deadline.

 

[ChompChomp]

No one has posted the player scorecard yet?

You mean this?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851763377065894058

 

[OrrNumber4]

You mean this?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851763377065894058

Dánke!

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851861781658112044

 

[Bizz]

I still can't believe we actually got positive value in a trade that involved dumping Matt f***ing Benning.

 

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

Wore #37 in Toronto.

My guess is there may be a 1-2 day delay due to visa issues before he can play.

There's the potential that Cags or Shakir might be recalled for Thursday's game.

I know jersey #65 is available. Maybe he is our next EK65. LOL.

 

[Visnovsky]

Liljegren is a good puck mover, but moreso, he is an incredible entry denier.

San Jose will love him, and I am very mad that GMBT just let this happen.

 

[Cas]

All of the weaknesses Liljegren has, Benning has in spades. Benning collapses under the slightest pressure, because he's both totally immobile and doesn't think fast enough. He can give and take hits (which is merely one form of physical pressure), but as soon as someone gets a step on him, it's a clear shot to the net because Benning simply cannot recover. He's really bad at protecting the blue line as a result, and also really bad at backchecking because he's too slow. If he can manage to win a chase into the corner, he's fine, but he just can't do that with regularity.

Basically, we're exchanging Benning for a younger and better version of Benning (albeit one who isn't much for mere hits), at the cost of a lottery ticket. That's a win.

 

[Maplebeasts]

You guys stole a top 4 defenseman. He was our best defenseman over the last 3 seasons at generating expected goal differentials and one of the best at generating actual goal differentials.

The people criticizing him about not being physical enough have a point but he can move the puck and was extremely good at running the power play when Rielly was out last season. Wild how many of our fans would criticize Liljegren for not being good enough at boxing out guys in front of the net but loved having trash players like Lyubushkin and Edmundsson who got lit up but could hit.