Tribute Timothy Liljegren part 2

[francis246]

Something obviously happened.

He was doing great and showing all the promise.

There is an event with Keefe calling him out and whatever else happened behind the scenes.

Sandin is traded and Engvall

Becomes a totally different and inferior player.


Strange stuff.

The only thing that is happened is that he is unfortunately picked the worst time to start struggling. Because recency bias for a coach is real. It’s unfortunate but it happens. If his play drops like this in December it probably doesn’t affect his position on the depth chart.

These guys are pros, Keefe’s comments, guys getting traded shouldn’t be affecting you to this extent and if it does then that’s a whole other issue.

 

[Kiwi]

The only thing that is happened is that he is unfortunately picked the worst time to start struggling. Because recency bias for a coach is real. It’s unfortunate but it happens. If his play drops like this in December it probably doesn’t affect his position on the depth chart.

These guys are pros, Keefe’s comments, guys getting traded shouldn’t be affecting you to this extent and if it does then that’s a whole other issue.

He's young, young players need stability and the entire backend has been upended

It won't effect older more experienced players to the same extent but if you were trying to make Liljegren's life more difficult you couldn't have devised a better plan than what Keefe has done for the last month

Blame the player all you like but a coaches job is to get the best out of his players and what Keefe has done recently hasn't got the best out of a lot of players

 

[Apex Predator]

If Liljegren has confidence issues when he struggles that’s not good. Campbell was like that and in this market it will be tough to succeed if you can’t handle the pressure when you struggle.

 

[francis246]

He's young, young players need stability and the entire backend has been upended

It won't effect older more experienced players to the same extent but if you were trying to make Liljegren's life more difficult you couldn't have devised a better plan than what Keefe has done for the last month

Blame the player all you like but a coaches job is to get the best out of his players and what Keefe has done recently hasn't got the best out of a lot of players

Keefe has been the coach all year right? So when Liljegren has been at his best, was Keefe doing anything then? Man miss me with that BS. Every player on the roster should be held accountable when they play bad.

Keefe has done everything to help Liljegren be successful. Liljegren has just had a rough patch, that isn’t on the coach. That’s just on the player. It happens, it’s really not that big of a deal.

 

[thusk]

He's young, young players need stability and the entire backend has been upended

It won't effect older more experienced players to the same extent but if you were trying to make Liljegren's life more difficult you couldn't have devised a better plan than what Keefe has done for the last month

Blame the player all you like but a coaches job is to get the best out of his players and what Keefe has done recently hasn't got the best out of a lot of players

If its too much pressure needing to perform to play... hes not ready to play playoff game... thats it

 

[Kiwi]

Keefe has been the coach all year right? So when Liljegren has been at his best, was Keefe doing anything then? Man miss me with that BS. Every player on the roster should be held accountable when they play bad.

Keefe has done everything to help Liljegren be successful. Liljegren has just had a rough patch, that isn’t on the coach. That’s just on the player. It happens, it’s really not that big of a deal.

Keefe wasn't trying to fit 9 defenseman in, or trying to get a bunch of new guys used to a new system, wasn't changing up the pairs like he is currently or playing 7D

Of course a young guy is going to struggle, young guys need stability to perform and when he had stability he was performing

I blame the player, coach and GM for this situation

If its too much pressure needing to perform to play... hes not ready to play playoff game... thats it

He has performed, he's been one of our better defenseman for decent stretches of the season

We turned over the roster, can't settle on a lineup and our underlying metrics as a team have tanked

Those are just facts and Liljegren is a symptom of what's been happening since the TDL

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

He's young, young players need stability and the entire backend has been upended

It won't effect older more experienced players to the same extent but if you were trying to make Liljegren's life more difficult you couldn't have devised a better plan than what Keefe has done for the last month

Blame the player all you like but a coaches job is to get the best out of his players and what Keefe has done recently hasn't got the best out of a lot of players

I agree about Keefe not getting the best out of the players. He seems so intent on making sure the 7th or 8th D-man are not sitting too long without any action that he is putting that idea over the fact that the rest of the players are in a blender. That's not what you want going in to the playoffs...it just isn't. If you lose a Mcabe or any of the top 4...you are in trouble either way...having a guy who is semi-fresh coming in doesn't make this whole experiment worth it IMO. They are used to sitting out...that's why they are 7th and 8th in the first place. He messed with Lilly's head and now you won't have confidence putting him in to replace Holl or Schenn. Very stupid on his part for this 11-7 fiasco.

 

[Stephen]

I agree about Keefe not getting the best out of the players. He seems so intent on making sure the 7th or 8th D-man are not sitting too long without any action that he is putting that idea over the fact that the rest of the players are in a blender. That's not what you want going in to the playoffs...it just isn't. If you lose a Mcabe or any of the top 4...you are in trouble either way...having a guy who is semi-fresh coming in doesn't make this whole experiment worth it IMO. They are used to sitting out...that's why they are 7th and 8th in the first place. He messed with Lilly's head and now you won't have confidence putting him in to replace Holl or Schenn. Very stupid on his part for this 11-7 fiasco.

Where Keefe falls short as a younger coach is he's never developed anybody as a bonafide impact NHLer and wasn't one himself. So he can deploy a young guy, give him the spiel, play him in random situations and actually know from experience where it's all headed. Like Carlyle said, you don't know what a defenseman will be until the 300 game mark. But what should a coach be looking for and doing at the 100, 150, 20, 250 game mark? Keefe doesn't know.

 

[thusk]

Keefe wasn't trying to fit 9 defenseman in, or trying to get a bunch of new guys used to a new system, wasn't changing up the pairs like he is currently or playing 7D

Of course a young guy is going to struggle, young guys need stability to perform and when he had stability he was performing

I blame the player, coach and GM for this situation



He has performed, he's been one of our better defenseman for decent stretches of the season

We turned over the roster, can't settle on a lineup and our underlying metrics as a team have tanked

Those are just facts and Liljegren is a symptom of what's been happening since the TDL

The reality its liljegren performer like a great 5/6/7 th d an be protected like sandin a big part of regular season...

D who can give you a pretty good third pair, step up in case of injuries for short time in a higher role... thats it he didn't play like a top 4 D but show potential of it. He made a great step foward for sur since last year.

But since TDL, D have to fight and had to adapt at different kind of situation, different partner lile everyone
... because keefe test his D to see what he have in his hand... but liljegren out of his confort zone struggling and without keefe trying to use him on specific situation he know he was able to perform...

its not about being young, its about being unable to adapt ... its different. And come playoff time, you need to adapt yourself at different kind of situation, you cant just play in your confort zone. its not how its working... Its about building the most complete/best line up you can come playoff time...

NHL is not a league of development, especialy in leafs position. Its do or die

 

[francis246]

Where Keefe falls short as a younger coach is he's never developed anybody as a bonafide impact NHLer and wasn't one himself. So he can deploy a young guy, give him the spiel, play him in random situations and actually know from experience where it's all headed. Like Carlyle said, you don't know what a defenseman will be until the 300 game mark. But what should a coach be looking for and doing at the 100, 150, 20, 250 game mark? Keefe doesn't know.

Sheldon Keefe has more NHL experience than a ton of past and present head coaches. He has more experience as an NHL player than some of the suggestions people want to replace him. So I don’t think that has anything to do with it.

The reality of the situation is everyone in the organization is under a ton of pressure to execute and perform in the playoffs this year. Keefe and the coaching staff don’t have time to coddle because their ass/jobs/livelyhood is on the line. Liljegren will be here regardless. So you’re not going to have a long leash that’s just the end of it. It sucks for Liljegren but that’s what it is this year. The margin/acceptance for errors is slimmer. The only issue I have is Keefe isnt always fair in terms of who’s in his dog house, but that’s pro sports.

I don’t think Kyle makes the moves to bring in all these players on the backend if he feels secure in his job. But they need results and will do whatever it takes to achieve it. That being said I’m sure Liljegren will draw into games. I don’t know how you run Schenn and Holl at the same time.

 

[francis246]

Where Keefe falls short as a younger coach is he's never developed anybody as a bonafide impact NHLer and wasn't one himself. So he can deploy a young guy, give him the spiel, play him in random situations and actually know from experience where it's all headed. Like Carlyle said, you don't know what a defenseman will be until the 300 game mark. But what should a coach be looking for and doing at the 100, 150, 20, 250 game mark? Keefe doesn't know.

I actually went through and checked there are only 13 current NHL coaches with more NHL experience/GP than Sheldon Keefe. And some aren’t even far off in terms of GP.

 

[Stephen]

I actually went through and checked there are only 13 current NHL coaches with more NHL experience/GP than Sheldon Keefe. And some aren’t even far off in terms of GP.

Yes. My point is, however, there are veteran coaches who will have had previous experience developing young players into NHL impact defensemen. The best defenseman Keefe has worked with from the developmental system through to the NHL is Justin Holl.

 

[francis246]

Yes. My point is, however, there are veteran coaches who will have had previous experience developing young players into NHL impact defensemen. The best defenseman Keefe has worked with from the developmental system through to the NHL is Justin Holl.

I just see a lot of unnecessary hate going towards Keefe, last I checked, when Liljegren was playing extremely well, Keefe was the coach and giving Liljegren opportunity right? When Liljegren played a little bit bad, Keefe took him out because there are other options and now Keefe can't develop defenseman? lol just seems really extreme for this situation. Everyone in the d-core has had a game or two in the press box in the last month or more.

Also the 11-7 is a direct result of the amount of forward injuries we've had. If O'Reilly, Accari, Tavares don't get hurt when they do, we probably don't go 11-7. Also we've had to carry 3 goaltenders because of Sammy's wife about to give birth/Murray being hurt a bit. I don't think Keefe even wants to do 11-7. It's just the circumstance the Leafs were dealt.

 

[Stephen]

I just see a lot of unnecessary hate going towards Keefe, last I checked, when Liljegren was playing extremely well, Keefe was the coach and giving Liljegren opportunity right? When Liljegren played a little bit bad, Keefe took him out because there are other options and now Keefe can't develop defenseman? lol just seems really extreme for this situation. Everyone in the d-core has had a game or two in the press box in the last month or more.

Keefe has been on the job in the NHL since only 2020 and we've seen him turn Holl into a middle pair guy from a press box guy and some okay, inconsistent results with Sandin and Liljegren and poor results with Dermott. All three of those guys were high picks.

So where would the belief come from that he can develop impact NHL defensemen or knows how to get more out of a young defenseman? Keefe's young in the coaching game himself. It's not a stretch to say he's probably got a lot to learn on the developmental side.

 

[francis246]

Keefe has been on the job in the NHL since only 2020 and we've seen him turn Holl into a middle pair guy from a press box guy and some okay, inconsistent results with Sandin and Liljegren and poor results with Dermott. All three of those guys were high picks.

So where would the belief come from that he can develop impact NHL defensemen or knows how to get more out of a young defenseman? Keefe's young in the coaching game himself. It's not a stretch to say he's probably got a lot to learn on the developmental side.

Or maybe there's some flaws in those players games and they got exposed as they got to the NHL lol? I don't think it's necessarily on Keefe alone, I personally think the Leafs have sucked at drafting defenseman for a long time. Organizationally I think they value the wrong things in defenseman and it's not really a surprise to me when our top defenseman draft picks don't succeed. Maybe coaching is a small part of it. But to put the lack of success of Dermott and Sandin as leafs (I'm not going to include Liljegren in this because I think his development has been excellent and I'm not going to subscribe to the notion that him sitting a few games is going to derail his development) on Keefe is laughable. Keefe had all three at the AHL level and they all excelled under him at the AHL level. So now to turn around and say that he's the reason they couldn't find top 4 success with the Leafs is laughable lol.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Dermott had a million chances to grab the bull by the balls even before Keefe. Injuries aside (he’s undersized given his play style and its been an issue from day one), he’s repeatedly failed to do that and where is he now? 11-1-0-1, -4 and on the LTIR on a team where the corpse of OEL is their 2D.

Oh OEL is on IR as well? Hronek? Myers? Bear?

A high of 14:55 in his last five games played. He’s a 6D on a bad team and in the presser or the AHL on a good one. He’s never put up a run of play even close to what Lily did last year and was doing for 80% of this year.

Fun fact few consider: TD is almost exactly between Willy and Mitch in age. He will be 27, that’s traditional UFA age, around Christmas.

I’d argue he is what he is and I doubt I’d be the only one, maybe he had this year to put it together and become something, but unfortunately he’s been injured since January and it’s just the way she goes.

How much longer did he need to be given? The Leafs gave him 250 games. This is a contract year for him - would you offer him one? Even at league min, you’re gonna give a contract slot to a guy who’s turning 27 when you can easily find a guy in-house 23-24 who can do the same thing and is still developing?

Sandin showed flashes but doesn’t have the skating or the size to be any more than what he is in Washington - a glass cannon PPQB who gets caved at ES, but at least he puts up some numbers and is almost 4 years younger than Dermott is.

Liljegren is still a young player, was clearly nursing something about 3-5 weeks ago and is struggling to get back up to game speed. There were stretches when Mo was shitting the bed where people were saying he was our best D.

He’ll be fine after this soft reset and a bit of healing.

 

[ktownhockey]

I actually went through and checked there are only 13 current NHL coaches with more NHL experience/GP than Sheldon Keefe. And some aren’t even far off in terms of GP.

Keefe was a good player, just in the wrong time period. I know his game well. He'd probably be a career player (not saying he'd be elite or anything) Alot of players we could say this about, but he had some jam and was smart and very skilled.

I am not a fan boy, I'm probably a 60/40 with him right now as coach.

 

[meefer]

Keefe has been on the job in the NHL since only 2020 and we've seen him turn Holl into a middle pair guy from a press box guy and some okay, inconsistent results with Sandin and Liljegren and poor results with Dermott. All three of those guys were high picks.

So where would the belief come from that he can develop impact NHL defensemen or knows how to get more out of a young defenseman? Keefe's young in the coaching game himself. It's not a stretch to say he's probably got a lot to learn on the developmental side.

Who are these young defensemen that Keefe was supposed to have developed since 2020? Liljegren? Well, we've seen Timothy develop quite a bit since he first entered the league 133 games ago, though he is going through a rough stretch right now. Sandin? 140 games as a Leaf. Dermott? 250 games as a Leaf, but only around 120 games available to him when Keefe was coach of the Leafs. Or is it Timmins with 22 games as a Leaf? These young D haven't cracked 200 games played with the Leafs, but I'd argue each (perhaps not Dermott?) has developed into a better player than when they arrived, and because of age, skill sets, and the number of games they still have to play will continue to get better.

Defensemen take a long time to grow into the player their abilities allow them to be. Lily has had some great games since he's been here. I've been a huge fan since he started to break out last year. I'm still a huge fan. Will he contribute come these playoffs? I certainly think so. But, Keefe is - I think - using all the the time he has to find out how he can use the players he has at his disposal. IMO, as he should, because he is the coach of the team, not just a young defenseman. One of the assistant coaches, Carbury/Chynoweth/Malhotra/Muzzin can massage the ego of a player, boost their confidence etc. Keefe's job is to find out what he has, who can succeed with whom, in what situations, and ice the best team he can.

I'd suggest he's doing the same thing with the F group, anticipating the return of ROR, and mixing and matching until that return to evaluate what our best options are when Ryan returns.

 

[Gabriel426]

I just think players will go through good stretch and bad stretch. The diff between vets and younger players is their historical ref stats. Like AM, he has pretty much been a 40 or more goals scorer in the league, thus if he goes a stretch without scoring a goal, ofcourse we would be like if he is okay or mentally checked out(I just love how people kept saying that)….barring injuries none of us will think he lost his touch or that he is not a 40 goals scoring C. But with Lilly bc the sample size is so small and just okay to begin with, when he hits his bad stretch like every other players, we just don’t have enough data’s/stats to fall back on and say, he is just in a slump.

 

[Stephen]

Who are these young defensemen that Keefe was supposed to have developed since 2020? Liljegren? Well, we've seen Timothy develop quite a bit since he first entered the league 133 games ago, though he is going through a rough stretch right now. Sandin? 140 games as a Leaf. Dermott? 250 games as a Leaf, but only around 120 games available to him when Keefe was coach of the Leafs. Or is it Timmins with 22 games as a Leaf? These young D haven't cracked 200 games played with the Leafs, but I'd argue each (perhaps not Dermott?) has developed into a better player than when they arrived, and because of age, skill sets, and the number of games they still have to play will continue to get better.

Defensemen take a long time to grow into the player their abilities allow them to be. Lily has had some great games since he's been here. I've been a huge fan since he started to break out last year. I'm still a huge fan. Will he contribute come these playoffs? I certainly think so. But, Keefe is - I think - using all the the time he has to find out how he can use the players he has at his disposal. IMO, as he should, because he is the coach of the team, not just a young defenseman. One of the assistant coaches, Carbury/Chynoweth/Malhotra/Muzzin can massage the ego of a player, boost their confidence etc. Keefe's job is to find out what he has, who can succeed with whom, in what situations, and ice the best team he can.

I'd suggest he's doing the same thing with the F group, anticipating the return of ROR, and mixing and matching until that return to evaluate what our best options are when Ryan returns.

Keefe is really inexperienced with developing defensemen, and his erratic career progression of Sandin is a good example of why I think so, beginning with putting him at PP1 to start his time with the Leafs, only to slowly fizzle out, lose trust as he put in more and more developmental reps. Dermott also seemed to fizzle out in terms of confidence over time as opposed to building more positive momentum in his career or really stabilizing. Both guys were first and second rounders. I'll admit, I think Sandin is a bad fit here but the progression path didn't seem clear to me that he could do A, B, C and progress to the next level.

Timmins has been a nice project but almost completely mothballed, so we'll see where he continues next year.

I like Liljegren quite a bit but I don't like the crisis in confidence we're seeing lately.

So yeah, whatever Keefe is doing, I don't think even he knows what the recipe is for bringing along a young defenseman to maturity. A the runway has been short, but B, he's never done it.

 

[Kiwi]

The reality its liljegren performer like a great 5/6/7 th d an be protected like sandin a big part of regular season...

D who can give you a pretty good third pair, step up in case of injuries for short time in a higher role... thats it he didn't play like a top 4 D but show potential of it. He made a great step foward for sur since last year.

But since TDL, D have to fight and had to adapt at different kind of situation, different partner lile everyone
... because keefe test his D to see what he have in his hand... but liljegren out of his confort zone struggling and without keefe trying to use him on specific situation he know he was able to perform...

its not about being young, its about being unable to adapt ... its different. And come playoff time, you need to adapt yourself at different kind of situation, you cant just play in your confort zone. its not how its working... Its about building the most complete/best line up you can come playoff time...

NHL is not a league of development, especialy in leafs position. Its do or die

He's been played in the top 4 plenty of times this season and was putting up some extremely promising results, it's only recently that he's dropped off and started to struggle

Like a lot of the team, when the teams results tank I have doubts it's a Liljegren issue more a what's changed issue

He's young, you don't just drop young players into the **** and tell them to have at it, you put them in a position to succeed and if this is a Liljegren issue why the hell has the entire teams advanced metrics dropped off a cliff?

You know how you get competitive teams with good cheap young players? Develop the young players and get the best out of them

Liljegren has been very good this season, now he's bloody near unusable since we decided to go full galaxy brain
If helping us win is tanking the confidence of one of our best 6 defenseman it's the dumbest plan in the history of plans

 

[meefer]

Keefe is really inexperienced with developing defensemen, and his erratic career progression of Sandin is a good example of why I think so, beginning with putting him at PP1 to start his time with the Leafs, only to slowly fizzle out, lose trust as he put in more and more developmental reps. Dermott also seemed to fizzle out in terms of confidence over time as opposed to building more positive momentum in his career or really stabilizing. Both guys were first and second rounders. I'll admit, I think Sandin is a bad fit here but the progression path didn't seem clear to me that he could do A, B, C and progress to the next level.

Timmins has been a nice project but almost completely mothballed, so we'll see where he continues next year.

I like Liljegren quite a bit but I don't like the crisis in confidence we're seeing lately.

So yeah, whatever Keefe is doing, I don't think even he knows what the recipe is for bringing along a young defenseman to maturity. A the runway has been short, but B, he's never done it.

I would have liked to see Sandin succeed as well, but like you, I found the fit to be awkward. I wish him well in Washington, but think his skating will be a stumbling block to achieving the success his brain would allow. Given where the Leafs are, I don't think Sandin's development issues should be placed on Keefe's ability to develop a young Dman, but rather there was not the fit here, to which you speak.

Liljegren has improved, dramatically, under Keefe's watch. Two Novembers ago I remember writing that 'this was the best game I'd seen Lily play'. And then wrote the same thing every month the remainder of that season, and into this season. He's now hit a downturn. Yes, Keefe's comments about having to play better may have stung, but imo, developing a young Dman at this stage of the season is not the first priority of a coach, nor should it be. Whoever is playing the best, that's it. And if it's not TL, so be it. That said, I still believe TL will come out of this slide and be better for it. A little adversity can help development, too.

Timmins, as you state, is next year's concern.

Dermott...maybe you have something here. He sure looked good early, but relied on too many head fakes and never really turned a corner. A better skater than Sandin, strong, physical, I don't know. Maybe Keefe was too inexperienced to help Dermott when Keefe himself was learning to swim. But still, from what little I've seen and read about his time in Vancouver (tough luck kid) he's still prone to the errors we saw here.

Essentially, I'd argue that we won't know how well Keefe has helped a young defenseman's development until that kid has played substantially more games than any of those mentioned have played in their careers.

 

[francis246]

He's been played in the top 4 plenty of times this season and was putting up some extremely promising results, it's only recently that he's dropped off and started to struggle

Like a lot of the team, when the teams results tank I have doubts it's a Liljegren issue more a what's changed issue

He's young, you don't just drop young players into the **** and tell them to have at it, you put them in a position to succeed and if this is a Liljegren issue why the hell has the entire teams advanced metrics dropped off a cliff?

You know how you get competitive teams with good cheap young players? Develop the young players and get the best out of them

Liljegren has been very good this season, now he's bloody near unusable since we decided to go full galaxy brain
If helping us win is tanking the confidence of one of our best 6 defenseman it's the dumbest plan in the history of plans

You’re acting like this is an isolated incident only to Liljegren. This isn’t some grand scheme to screw over Liljegren. This is a part of being a professional athlete. You have to be able to overcome adversity. Young players with less experience have been dropped from the line up in favour of veterans for like 100 years in every sport.

That’s just the way things go. Liljegren will be fine and a staple in our top 4 for years to come. You’re over reacting to something that happens to a ton of young defenseman in the NHL and most of them end up being okay. It’s really the elite of the elite young defenseman that can step in and have consistency and be contributors night in and night out. (McAvoy and Makar are really the last two I remember seeing come in and really impact their d-cores in such a way, EDIT. Thomas Chabot/Adam Fox as well) Liljegren is a good young dman but he’s not an elite one where our teams play drops significantly if he’s not in the line up. Otherwise he wouldn’t come out, the organization isn’t stupid and aren’t we a heavy analytics based team? It’s not rocket science.

 

[thusk]

He's been played in the top 4 plenty of times this season and was putting up some extremely promising results, it's only recently that he's dropped off and started to struggle

Like a lot of the team, when the teams results tank I have doubts it's a Liljegren issue more a what's changed issue

He's young, you don't just drop young players into the **** and tell them to have at it, you put them in a position to succeed and if this is a Liljegren issue why the hell has the entire teams advanced metrics dropped off a cliff?

You know how you get competitive teams with good cheap young players? Develop the young players and get the best out of them

Liljegren has been very good this season, now he's bloody near unusable since we decided to go full galaxy brain
If helping us win is tanking the confidence of one of our best 6 defenseman it's the dumbest plan in the history of plans

NHL is not a league of development especially come playoff time. Keefe placed liljegren/Sandin and Rimmins in different kind of situation for those player being able to shine all year long... yes he show improvement in his game but he never be one of 4 best Dmen... he had been a pretty good as 5th D with an healthy line up and was able to step up when needed 1st half but who struggling late in season. But come playoff time,he need to use the player who giving you the best chance to win come playiff.

And like i said, leafs added a lot of new player and keefe made experiment by using his player in every kind of situation he can to evaluate what hes got...so yes at time, you're didn't get positive result and be woret but if you dont try it, you cant even know. Leafs added schenn to have depht because he need it come playoff and right now hes outplaying liljegren...

He needed to try different look in D to see whats working and whats not. To see whats is the best line up bu the problem with Liljegren is whatever who he was playing with since McCabe trade, he struggling. So HOW can he still using liljegren when whatever with who he had been played since, he made his partner look at their worst. Its not the time of the year to try some young player to see where their progression is, its time of the year to build your playoff line up and be ready when playoff will start. Its time to perform!

 

[Dekes For Days]

NHL is not a league of development especially come playoff time. Keefe placed liljegren/Sandin and Rimmins in different kind of situation for those player being able to shine all year long... yes he show improvement in his game but he never be one of 4 best Dmen... he had been a pretty good as 5th D with an healthy line up and was able to step up when needed 1st half but who struggling late in season. But come playoff time,he need to use the player who giving you the best chance to win come playiff.

A lot of people don't seem to realize that now is not the time for a top-tier team trying to contend for the cup to be developing defensemen.
Keefe sheltered Liljegren, worked with Liljegren, endlessly complimented Liljegren, and put him in positions to succeed throughout the season.
Now, we're ramping up for the playoffs and figuring out our configurations with a deep defense as we prepare to face one of the best teams in the league.
That means the sheltering is over. That means testing our defensemen in different, less comfortable scenarios, because that's what the playoffs are. That's what Tampa will do.
People didn't like it, but the reason Liljegren came out last year was because he got isolated and targeted by Tampa, and he was struggling, despite being at home.
Hopefully Liljegren is able to play and excel in these playoffs, but Liljegren has to show that he's capable. He can't slide back as we ramp up. Keefe can't baby him.