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

[sampler]

Why would we pay a 3rd and 6th round pick to rid ourselves of a fully buriable contract in a season where we're not competing for anything? That makes no sense.

Liljegren has been healthy scratched in 9 of 10 Leafs games this season. They were desperate to get rid of that contract.

Obviously if we could have done a straight up Benning for Lil' Grin swap, that woulda been better. That said, I think there was a market for him. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think other teams might have been interested. ultimately, even if the picks were extra, or even if we got rid of benning and got a 6th, its just not a big difference either way. a couple 6th or 7th rounders just arent worth nearly anything.

The trade has some significant upside for the sharks. yes, the 1.75M next year extra salary over benning could hurt, and if Lil' Grin absolutely stinks while the sharks look ready to take a big leap next summer, it could hurt, but the upside is bigger than the downside on this one. if he fails miserably, then oh well, a little bit of dead cap. If he steps into a top 4 role, then the sharks have a long term hole filled. Much more to gain than to lose here.

Lil' Grin played nealy 20 mins/gm last year on a pretty good team. More importantly, he is obviously going to be extremely highly motivated. Like Askarov was block in NSH, Lil' Grin is blocked in TOR, so the Sharks are a great landing spot for him as there is a clear runway for him to establish himself as a top 4 NHL Dman if he earns it.

I bet this trade looks a bit like the walman deal (not quite as good) in the near future. I like it.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Awesome trade and exactly what we need — a right handed puck moving defenseman. I don’t know if he’s part of the overall future here or not but he fell out of favor with the Leafs and will get all the chances in the world to find his game here. Most importantly, we have a guy other than Walman who can help the Sharks get out of their zone and put Rutta on the 3rd pairing.

I imagine it’s going to be:

Walman - Ceci
Ferraro - Liljegren
Thrun - Rutta

Much happier with that.

Also, man we’re really becoming Team Sweden.

I raise you:

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Thompson
Rutta

Marginally respectable if I don't say so myself.

 

[ChompChomp]

Yea I think this could also be seen as a dump from the Sharks too. Only 1.25m but Benning is absolute dogshit and has no place in the NHL or AHL with this org.

Exactly. I strongly suspect we could have gotten Liljegren for "free", i.e., for a sixth. But Grier wanted to move Benning too, so I suspect the Leafs demanded a 3rd to take back Benning.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Considering this teams defense, Liljegren is automatically an upgrade to the top 4. Its his opportunity to take advantage of now

 

[ChompChomp]

I raise you:

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Thompson
Rutta

Marginally respectable if I don't say so myself.

Forgot about Thompson so I edited my last post with pairings. I like this much better than what we had as of last night.

I'd still like Dante Fabbro though...

 

[Jargon]

Liljegren is 25 years old. He is what he is, which is a soft third pair puck mover on a decent team. Anyone expecting significant improvement from what he showed last season is setting themselves up for disappointment.

Defensemen take a long time to develop and sometimes a player just gets stuck in a rut/isn’t a fit. I don’t think 25 is old and from what I’ve gathered he’s had stretches where he’s looked like a top 4 defenseman. He's certainly that for this team and I think any guy who can come in and help us possess and break the puck out better is really necessary right now, even if he’s not a long term solution. I don’t mind the cost, it’s pennies and we need him.

 

[Hodge]

Exactly. I strongly suspect we could have gotten Liljegren for "free", i.e., for a sixth. But Grier wanted to move Benning too, so I suspect the Leafs demanded a 3rd to take back Benning.

Lol how do you not see that's worse? A 3rd round pick to dump Matt Benning? Who f***ing cares just send him to the Barracuda.

 

[Jargon]

I raise you:

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Thompson
Rutta

Marginally respectable if I don't say so myself.

Oh I somehow forgot about Thompson.

I actually really like that look. Eventually Muhk will play with Liljgren but either way, it gives us a puck mover on every line, something we haven’t had since I don’t know I’m too traumatized to remember.

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Great move by Grier

 

[STL Shark]

Benning's contract is fully buriable in the AHL and we had no incentive or need to move it. Leafs are a cap strapped contender desperate to offload 2x3M for a guy who's in the press box every night.

Because Berube is a dog crap coach rather than a lack of ability. The difference is $1.75M against the cap which isn’t a negative asset for a young D that’s been in the Top 4 last year and is a 30-35 point per 82 player on the backend.

You thought Walman sucked, Ceci was good, and Puljuarvi warranted a 1st rounder to trade for so I get your trade values and player evals are wildly off.

 

[TheBeard]

I raise you:

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Thompson
Rutta

Marginally respectable if I don't say so myself.

Ruuta will end up on waivers once Vlasic is healthy.

 

[Jargon]

Lol how do you not see that's worse? A 3rd round pick to dump Matt Benning? Who f***ing cares just send him to the Barracuda.

Ironically I looked up what Liljegren’s status was earlier today and read a bunch of articles that said multiple teams were inquiring. Not sure the 3rd was to dump Benning, I think it was just the cost to beat out the other teams.

 

[STL Shark]

Ironically I looked up what Liljegren’s status was earlier today and read a bunch of articles that said multiple teams were inquiring. Not sure the 3rd was to dump Benning, I think it was just the cost to beat out the other teams.

Given how stupid Berube is, I think he believes that Benning is the piece he’s missing on his blue line.

 

[one2gamble]

You put too much stock in what a fairly young player’s status was with another team. He has a lot of potential but fell out of favor with the Leafs - this can happen and sometimes a change of scenario can really help a player.

These picks will easily be recouped during the deadline if we need them, in the meantime, Celebrini, Smith and co. have a defenseman that can skate the puck out of the zone and make a good first pass instead of tossing the puck in a panic to the other team. It may not work out and he may end up sucking but these picks are easily recouped and it’s a worthy gamble for the type of guy that is a DESPERATE need for this team.

I think Grier continues to kill it.

I dont think @Hodge is wrong that the leafs were trying to clear space and moved someone they were not enamored with. I do think this is a trade the sharks have to make and that getting rid of benning has a cost. Yes we could eat it in the AHL but hasso is already chewing on millions of retained salary and an empty building

 

[spintops]

"The chance of a 3rd round pick even making the NHL is so low" - Trading one for a NHL defensemen (a RHD at that) is a no brainer. Low risk so reward type move if he sticks as a upgrade (low bar)

 

[Alaskanice]

A 25 yo 6’1” first rounder right shooting defenseman that has played nearly 200 games and in the playoffs.
Yeah, we should’ve got him for free.

MGGM stole this kid. ‘Nuff said.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Forgot about Thompson so I edited my last post with pairings. I like this much better than what we had as of last night.

I'd still like Dante Fabbro though...

Trade Ceci for a 2nd the deadline, sign Fabbro as a UFA in the summer. Easy peasy.

 

[Hodge]

Because Berube is a dog crap coach rather than a lack of ability. The difference is $1.75M against the cap which isn’t a negative asset for a young D that’s been in the Top 4 last year and is a 30-35 point per 82 player on the backend.

You thought Walman sucked, Ceci was good, and Puljuarvi warranted a 1st rounder to trade for so I get your trade values and player evals are wildly off.

I'll take a "dog crap coach" who's won a Cup's assessment of a player over yours every day of the week. Besides, regardless of whether Berube was correct to healthy scratch Liljegren the fact of the matter is that he did in 9/10 games. That should have given us sufficient leverage to demand Liljegren for free with the extra year on his contract.

 

[TheBeard]

I dont think @Hodge is wrong that the leafs were trying to clear space and moved someone they were not enamored with. I do think this is a trade the sharks have to make and that getting rid of benning has a cost. Yes we could eat it in the AHL but hasso is already chewing on millions of retained salary and an empty building

I don’t think it cost anything to move Benning nor was there a need to with our cap situation. The picks were purely for a guy who’s a proven NHL d-man.

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

Liljegren is 25 years old. He is what he is, which is a soft third pair puck mover on a decent team. Anyone expecting significant improvement from what he showed last season is setting themselves up for disappointment.

He was in a 2nd pair role on a 102 point team last year at age 24 and put up solid results. Even without any improvement, that’s easily worth the price paid.

 

[ChompChomp]

Trade Ceci for a 2nd the deadline, sign Fabbro as a UFA in the summer. Easy peasy.

I just want Fabbro now, I'm impatient lol.

 

[Grinner]

This is a win for the Sharks

 

[weastern bias]

We turned the worst player on the worst team in the league into a legitimate NHL caliber RHD at the cost of a 3rd and a 6th, I'm not going to quibble over value

Mike Grier is on f***ing fire, he stays winning

 

[YouJustGotPavelskied]

A healthy scratch on one of the best teams in the league is still better than a healthy scratch on the worst d core in the league. The odds of that 3rd or that 6th panning out are pretty low.

We got an upgrade on our existing D, and a RHD. This is a solid trade IMO.

 

[Hodge]

He was in a 2nd pair role on a 102 point team last year at age 24 and put up solid results. Even without any improvement, that’s easily worth the price paid.

That was before the Leafs signed him to a 2 year $6 million contract and dropped him to 8th on their defensive depth chart. Connor Timmins sucks and he's dressed in 8 more games than Liljegren this season.

Meanwhile the Leafs sign a different old guy to a 5 year contract extension every week -- they were desperate to clear Liljegren's money. I'm just confused as to how this ends with the Sharks sending picks to Toronto rather than the other way around.