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

[TheGoldenJet]

Congratulations Timothy Liljegren, AHL champion.

 

[nobody]

Not bad for a kid who went "17th for a reason". He should be thanking his lucky stars that after the season he had last year with his illness and lost development year, he landed in the best possible place for him. Leafs organisation is top notch from top to bottom. Timmy has been afforded every opportunity to learn and grow at his own pace. He's been allowed to make mistakes without consequence and he has been allowed to grow from his mistakes. After playing on absolutely trash teams and bouncing around leagues for the past few seasons, he finally settled in as an impact defender on a championship team in one of the top professional hockey leagues.

Couldn't be more happier for the kid! Way to go Lilly! Leafs nation hopes you come out with conviction and rightfully claim a spot on the future Leafs blue line. With 200 foot players in Lilly, Rielly and Dermott on each pair spells future Championship for the buds. Lord Stanley isn't too far away boys, hold your heads up high, we're finally starting to see the light!

 

[Legend123]

Not bad for a kid who went "17th for a reason". He should be thanking his lucky stars that after the season he had last year with his illness and lost development year, he landed in the best possible place for him. Leafs organisation is top notch from top to bottom. Timmy has been afforded every opportunity to learn and grow at his own pace. He's been allowed to make mistakes without consequence and he has been allowed to grow from his mistakes. After playing on absolutely trash teams and bouncing around leagues for the past few seasons, he finally settled in as an impact defender on a championship team in one of the top professional hockey leagues.

Couldn't be more happier for the kid! Way to go Lilly! Leafs nation hopes you come out with conviction and rightfully claim a spot on the future Leafs blue line. With 200 foot players in Lilly, Rielly and Dermott on each pair spells future Championship for the buds. Lord Stanley isn't too far away boys, hold your heads up high, we're finally starting to see the light!

it sure will be tough to beat out those caps tho!

 

[BayStreetBully]

Well done, kid! We threw you into a professional league one notch below the NHL, as an 18 year old, by far the youngest player on the team (and the league?), and you did your part to bring us a championship. It’s everything we could’ve asked for this year.

 

[Muston Atthews]

He’s gonna have a Zetterberg-esque beard when the Leafs win the cup

 

[93LEAFS]

Well done, kid! We threw you into a professional league one notch below the NHL, as an 18 year old, by far the youngest player on the team (and the league?), and you did your part to bring us a championship. It’s everything we could’ve asked for this year.

Chytil was younger and played most of the year in the AHL.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Not bad for a kid who went "17th for a reason". He should be thanking his lucky stars that after the season he had last year with his illness and lost development year, he landed in the best possible place for him. Leafs organisation is top notch from top to bottom. Timmy has been afforded every opportunity to learn and grow at his own pace. He's been allowed to make mistakes without consequence and he has been allowed to grow from his mistakes. After playing on absolutely trash teams and bouncing around leagues for the past few seasons, he finally settled in as an impact defender on a championship team in one of the top professional hockey leagues.

Couldn't be more happier for the kid! Way to go Lilly! Leafs nation hopes you come out with conviction and rightfully claim a spot on the future Leafs blue line. With 200 foot players in Lilly, Rielly and Dermott on each pair spells future Championship for the buds. Lord Stanley isn't too far away boys, hold your heads up high, we're finally starting to see the light!

At the very least I say Liljegren will get more of a look during the preseason, plus he might get a call up during the regular season if and when one is needed on the Leafs defense.

 

[dangomon]

Chytil was younger and played most of the year in the AHL.

Youngest defenseman in the AHL by a decent margin, but I think second of third youngest player overall (I believe Klim Kostin is a few days younger as well).

 

[chamchibap]

Looks like Timmy has come a long way defensively! He seems to take away space really well and close big gaps with good lateral speed. Sometimes a bit nonchalant with the puck but seemed to have good defensive positioning when in the neutral zone as compared to Justin Holl who I thought had to turn his body around to catch up on multiple rushes.

I think he could use some work on his speed and acceleration from a standstill . Stride looks reallyyyyy smooth but could be masking a need for more lower body strength. His shot also looks off to me at times like he rushes or is nonchalant. Thought it looked better last year actually. Hope he keeps growing and developing...could be a real beast on the backend in a few years!

 

[justafan22]

I still think he's a year away from regular nhl ice time. He might get a cup of coffee next year, but I think 2019-20 is his rookie year, which is what most people predicted

 

[Randy Randerson]

He’s gonna have a Zetterberg-esque beard when the Leafs win the cup

that will be a nice change of pace, I think Marner&Nylander are gonna be pretty whispy

 

[Orfieus]

My forecast for Lilly

2017-18 - Doesn't look out of place and adapting to NA hockey

2018-19 - More responsibility with a focus on Defense, meaning a ton of PK with a sprinkle of PP. Basically the same treatment Rielly got last year. I'm not sure what to expect from him point wise, maybe try to get 10g 30pts? I don't expect a NHL callup

2019-20 - Everything comes together and forces the Leafs to call him up if there is an injury

I really don't see him being called up next year. This year was a feeling out but next year (2018-19) we will really see what type of player we have. It is going to be really exciting!

 

[Martin Skoula]

My forecast for Lilly

2017-18 - Doesn't look out of place and adapting to NA hockey

2018-19 - More responsibility with a focus on Defense, meaning a ton of PK with a sprinkle of PP. Basically the same treatment Rielly got last year. I'm not sure what to expect from him point wise, maybe try to get 10g 30pts? I don't expect a NHL callup

2019-20 - Everything comes together and forces the Leafs to call him up if there is an injury

I really don't see him being called up next year. This year was a feeling out but next year (2018-19) we will really see what type of player we have. It is going to be really exciting!

So far the trend has been to give performing Marlies a taste of the big leagues to show them what they have to get ready for, then call them up midway through their next season if they rise to the occasion in the AHL. I'd expect 10-20 games next season and a full-time call-up around the deadline or earlier if we have injuries in 19/20.

 

[bl02]

Youngest defenseman in the AHL by a decent margin, but I think second of third youngest player overall (I believe Klim Kostin is a few days younger as well).

Chytil-Kostin-Liljegren. Am I missing someone?

 

[dangomon]

Chytil-Kostin-Liljegren. Am I missing someone?

Other than a few players who played a few games, e.g. Formenton played two games for the Senators, I believe these are the three youngest! Impressive trio.

 

[bukwas]

I don't think anyone should be too worried about this kid not becoming a quality NHL player.
From what i see, coaching and maturation will mitigate most of the shortcomings and there is a good amount to like already.

 

[BrettHullsToe]

Liljegren's biggest challenge will be getting all of the NHL announcers and media people to pronounce his name correctly. He pronounces it phonetically, with the "j" the same sound as in "Jerry", but I haven't heard many others pronounce it that way - they all seem to want to pronounce the "j" sounding like a "y".

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Liljegren's biggest challenge will be getting all of the NHL announcers and media people to pronounce his name correctly. He pronounces it phonetically, with the "j" the same sound as in "Jerry", but I haven't heard many others pronounce it that way - they all seem to want to pronounce the "j" sounding like a "y".

Don’t players submit the desired pronunciation of their name for the PBP each season?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Liljegren's biggest challenge will be getting all of the NHL announcers and media people to pronounce his name correctly. He pronounces it phonetically, with the "j" the same sound as in "Jerry", but I haven't heard many others pronounce it that way - they all seem to want to pronounce the "j" sounding like a "y".

Because "j" in his name is pronounced like "y" in Swedish.

 

[JimboA]

that will be a nice change of pace, I think Marner&Nylander are gonna be pretty whispy

Nylander can actually grow a somewhat decent beard, but he doesn’t get enough credit for it

 

[BrettHullsToe]

Don’t players submit the desired pronunciation of their name for the PBP each season?

I'm not sure it does much good given the varied pronunciations I've heard among the different announcers.

Because "j" in his name is pronounced like "y" in Swedish.

Someone should tell him that then because that's not how he pronounced his name during an intermission video aired during game 7 where he asked another player questions. In the intro and outro he pronounced the "j" in his name like it's pronounced in English. Several people were commenting in the stream chat on it because it was unexpected.

Edit: Hmm, I wonder if he's doing that weird thing that some people do when they learn a second language where they change the pronunciation of their name in the new language to what they think it should be based on the spelling rather than what most people do which is keep the pronunciation the same no matter what language they're speaking.

 

[LAKings88]

How did his numbers look in the playoffs? What were his minutes like?

 

[WilliamNylander]

He’s a leaf next year

 

[VictorLustig]

Edit: Hmm, I wonder if he's doing that weird thing that some people do when they learn a second language where they change the pronunciation of their name in the new language to what they think it should be based on the spelling rather than what most people do which is keep the pronunciation the same no matter what language they're speaking.

Not a weird thing at all, every Swedish name in the NHL is modified to fit the english language. No english speaker would be able to pronounce his name, or any other Swedish name correctly anyway.

 

[Antropovsky]

Liljgren was sheltered... and he has a long ways to go. However, I agree that this was as good as it gets for a first year development. I believe that playing on good teams is incredible important, especially for players like Liljgren who coming out of the draft seemed like a player whose confidence is the biggest hurdle in his development.