RD Timothy Liljegren - Ex-Rogle BK, SHL (2017, 17th, TOR) III

[zeke]

Yeah thats fair as well if thats what he meant. I just still personally consider Montour a prospect. Hes only 23 and in his first full NHL season as a dman thats pretty young. Hes also doing really well obviously, thats where the confusion came from. If Liljegren is the player Montour is when hes 23 is there any Leaf fans that would complain?

yes. it would be fairly disappointing if liljegren was a sheltered borderline top-4 dman 5 years from now.

 

[Atomos2]

I understand what the video was trying to show. Doesn't change the fact a bunch of the plays would never work in the NHL. But I guess I shouldn't give my opinion if it's not one you guys want to hear.

This is my favourite saying on hfboards. It’s up there with “reminds me of Gagner”

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

He's still of junior age, and is kinda allowed to do "his thing" so far in the AHL. Next year, when he's the AHL again, he's going to start playing against the # 1 lines more. His growth to be a competent NHLer is going to take some time. But certainly he has the potential to be a good, maybe very good NHLer.

 

[Advanced stats]

He's still of junior age, and is kinda allowed to do "his thing" so far in the AHL. Next year, when he's the AHL again, he's going to start playing against the # 1 lines more. His growth to be a competent NHLer is going to take some time. But certainly he has the potential to be a good, maybe very good NHLer.

Well I guess this guy doing "his thing" is working very well, because he's playing on the top pairing against #1 lines, and thriving. I'm failing to see the issue with allowing him to do "his thing". Why fix what works?

 

[newfy]

yes. it would be fairly disappointing if liljegren was a sheltered borderline top-4 dman 5 years from now.

High standards for a middle of the pack first round pick. If Liljegren is putting up over 40 points at the age of 23 I think you should (and most would) be happy. Former 5th overall Morgan Rielly is on pace to do that for the first time in his career, 5 years into his career. I know he plays tougher competition, but do you think Rielly is a fairly disappointing offensive player?

 

[Critical13]

High standards for a middle of the pack first round pick. If Liljegren is putting up over 40 points at the age of 23 I think you should (and most would) be happy. Former 5th overall Morgan Rielly is on pace to do that for the first time in his career, 5 years into his career. I know he plays tougher competition, but do you think Rielly is a fairly disappointing offensive player?

No. Is Hampus Lindholm dissapointing?

Comparing Reilly and Montour right now is silly. Morgan is on pace for 50+ points playing against the Tavares, Kanes and Marchands of the world.

 

[newfy]

No. Is Hampus Lindholm dissapointing?

Comparing Reilly and Montour right now is silly. Morgan is on pace for 50+ points playing against the Tavares, Kanes and Marchands of the world.

The point being that a full 5 years in the league is what it has taken for a 5th overall pick to reach those offensive numbers. Why would it be disappointing for a 17th overall drafted player to take 5 years to put up those numbers?

I'm also not sure if you read my post at all but basically 25% of it was me saying I know Rielly plays better competition and made it clear that I was talking about offensive numbers. No, I'm sure most dont find Rielly disappointing because he plays tough competition, but I was asking if up until now Rielly has been an offensive disappointment... 5 years in the NHL plus one in the WHL is what it has taken for him to get on pace for 40+ points. But Liljegren is going to be disappointing f it takes him the same time as a former 5th overall, doesnt make sense to me

 

[Martin Skoula]

The point being that a full 5 years in the league is what it has taken for a 5th overall pick to reach those offensive numbers. Why would it be disappointing for a 17th overall drafted player to take 5 years to put up those numbers?

I'm also not sure if you read my post at all but basically 25% of it was me saying I know Rielly plays better competition and made it clear that I was talking about offensive numbers. No, I'm sure most dont find Rielly disappointing because he plays tough competition, but I was asking if up until now Rielly has been an offensive disappointment... 5 years in the NHL plus one in the WHL is what it has taken for him to get on pace for 40+ points. But Liljegren is going to be disappointing f it takes him the same time as a former 5th overall, doesnt make sense to me

Given the usage and lack of PP time Rielly's seen, it's not disappointing.

If Liljegren is used in soft minutes and given top PP time from day 1, it would be disappointing if it took him 5 years.

If for some reason Babcock decides to try to turn Liljegren into a shutdown defender that doesn't see PP time until his 5th season, then yes, it wouldn't be disappointing if his offense takes a while to come around.

 

[Stephen]

Middle class man's Dahlin...

 

[zeke]

High standards for a middle of the pack first round pick. If Liljegren is putting up over 40 points at the age of 23 I think you should (and most would) be happy. Former 5th overall Morgan Rielly is on pace to do that for the first time in his career, 5 years into his career. I know he plays tougher competition, but do you think Rielly is a fairly disappointing offensive player?

you have to be careful when looking at dmen points, given how much dman offense depends on PP usage.

Rielly has been one of the better even strength offensive dmen in the league for a few years now, but just hasn't got the PP time until this year. Nothing has changed in his offensive game other than getting more PP time.

But much more important than raw points is whether the coach trusts the dman in real matchups, or feels he has to shelter him in softer matchups. Rielly for example gets some of the toughest quality of competition in hockey (and excels in it), while a guy like Montour gets the softest quality of competion at 5v5 on his team - behind even the nominal bottom pair guys beauch and bieksa - and is still not a good possession player.

And let's put on the brakes a bit in calling Montour a "40pt dman". Yeah he's played at that pace for 35gms this year but he's done that with a very high personal shooting percentage and a very high team on-ice shooting percentage. Not to mention some good special teams productivity (including 2 shorthanded points ). His actual even strength points per 60 is just .74, which is barely ahead of, for example, the leafs 2 worst even strength points per 60 dmen - carrick and polak are both at .68.

So yes, I would be pretty dissappointed if Liljegren was at where Montour is at now 5 years from now. And you might think it's high expectations for a mid 1st round pick but that's kind of exactly the point with Timmy - he was in contention for 1st overall in his draft a year earlier, and is excelling in the AHL at age 18, which is not something that a typical mid 1st round pick can do.

 

[Stephen]

Interested to see what he does at the WJC and after, because many prospects picked in the teens explode in their draft plus one season. The WJC is when they really open some eyes to their abilities and you see them fast tracked to the NHL shortly after. Case in point, Chabot and McAvoy...

 

[FerklundCGY]

Looks like he's having a pretty good rookie season in the AHL but I expected more 5v5 production.

3 5v5 points and only 1 5v5 primary point in 17 games so far. No goals 5v5 either.

In terms of 5v5 production, he ranks tied for 147th among all AHL D-men in points (3), tied for 165th in primary points (1), 147th in points per 60 minutes (0.74), and tied for 174th in primary points per 60 (0.25)

 

[DieTomi]

Looks like he's having a pretty good rookie season in the AHL but I expected more 5v5 production.

3 5v5 points and only 1 5v5 primary point in 17 games so far. No goals 5v5 either.

In terms of 5v5 production, he ranks tied for 147th among all AHL D-men in points (3), tied for 165th in primary points (1), 147th in points per 60 minutes (0.74), and tied for 174th in primary points per 60 (0.25)

Yikes, those aren't very inspiring numbers. Hopefully he gets 1st unit PP time in the WJC so he can show off his abilities there. A good tourney from Timoth is my one xmas wish.

 

[CujosMask]

Don't really care about his offensive numbers at this stage in his career.

 

[zeke]

Not inspiring numbers?

There are 16 teenagers in the AHL this year. Timmy is 4th in ppg. The 3 ahead of him are centers. Teenagers with lower ppg than Timmy include elite forward prospects like Puljujarvi and Alex Nylander, both of whom are a year older than him.

 

[naruto]

Zeke owning people so hard in this thread. Have some mercy, zeke!

 

[DieTomi]

Not inspiring numbers?

There are 16 teenagers in the AHL this year. Timmy is 4th in ppg. The 3 ahead of him are centers. Teenagers with lower ppg than Timmy include elite forward prospects like Puljujarvi and Alex Nylander, both of whom are a year older than him.

Yeah, one 5-on-5 primary point in 17 games isn't very inspiring. Tells me he's not creating a whole lot of offense at even strength. Is he only putting up that PPG because he's the focal point on the powerplay?

 

[DieTomi]

Zeke owning people so hard in this thread. Have some mercy, zeke!

Yeah holy crap he owned me

 

[biotk]

Liljegren has 9 points in 17 games.
6 of his 9 points are primary points.
5 of his 9 points are at ES (2 were at 4v4).
That he only has 1 primary point at 5v5 in 17 games is the kind of statistical fluke that often occurs when you divide the numbers further and further while you are looking at a small number of games.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I think people are just looking at stuff to hate on with him at this point.

 

[LeafChief]

Not inspiring numbers?

There are 16 teenagers in the AHL this year. Timmy is 4th in ppg. The 3 ahead of him are centers. Teenagers with lower ppg than Timmy include elite forward prospects like Puljujarvi and Alex Nylander, both of whom are a year older than him.

Preach.

 

[IceColdBear]

That Swedish D is going to be real interesting to watch at the WJC, as both a Leaf fan, and a hockey fan.

 

[stickty111]

Lilly's numbers are extremely good and it seems like fans of other teams are just upset a Leafs prospect looks great again.
9 points in 17 games. Astonishing. Very inspiring numbers. The fact that he is putting up these numbers on a team that is average scoring wise, and on creating offense is pretty amazing. Or should I say inspiring? Not too mention Marlies PP is attrocious so that makes his production even better.
Posters that are using stats like 1 point 5 on 5 are just cherry picking stats because it suits their narrative.

Lets hope Lilly continues to put up elite production. Fans getting mad that their team might have made a mistake not picking him so as a result they discredit the production? Certainly sounds like it.
Anyway continue to hate on Lilly. Its just a sign that people cant deal with the success that Lilly has had.
Leafs got a star d man. Feels great. Unless your on that posters club who cherry pick certain stats to make him look bad.

 

[Halla]

I dont necessarily mean he plays those 5 full years in the AHL. But what if he plays 2 years in the NHL as a bottom pairing guy, showing some promise and maybe getting a bit of PP time. At age 23 if hes a legit top 4 guy on pace for 35-40 points I really dont see how anyone can complain about getting that at 17.[/QUOTE]

I think leafs fans would be a lot happier if Liljegren didn't take 5 years to be a fringe top 4 dman. I think Fowler is a better comparable personally. He was probably rushed to the NHL a couple years too early and was atrocious in his own end, but has settled into a solid #2 guy. If Liljegren at 23 = 23 year old Fowler, leafs fans will be happy.
and no one will complain about getting that at 17 (Fowler was at 12 and also slipped his draft year)

 

[Halla]

Has he really been that good? I can’t say I’ve watched him too much in the AHL, but is the hype he’s getting for his AHL play really deserved?

he has been the marlies best dmen on a couple occasions that I have seen.
for an 18 year old kid that is the youngest player in the league by 2 years thats impressive.

this looks like its gonna be one of those cases of dmen who should have been taken much higher, but werent (Chychrun, McAvoy, and Carlo come to mind)