Prospect Info: Timothy Liljegren

[stickty111]

The kid deserves a thread. He has been absolutely tremendous in the playoffs, and frankly since the 2nd half began. He isn’t putting up a lot of points, but his overall game has improved so much. He is playing extremely tough minutes, and is excelling. Sandin is getting the hype as he should, but Lilly has outplayed him in the playoffs. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Lilly has been the best player for the Marlies, when not talking about Kask.

CF%: 65.2(1st)
OZ%: 51.9(2nd lowest)

Sheldon Keefe has had great things to say about him, and how far he has come defensively. Here is what he said on Overdrive “while he doesn’t have the statistical piece, he has taken such a large step in his ability to defend. His ability to take on big minutes. Play against the other teams best players, and he’s played on our top pair this year through the playoffs in very difficult matchups, and has handled it extremely well.

Has this just come on recently?
“Absolutely, LIljegren didn’t have a great start to the year, and he had his own injury problems. The high ankle sprain really set him back a number of weeks. Through that time, I’m not sure if it was the additional time in the gym, or the time with the skilled coaches, or just the time away from the daily grind in the daily schedule, when he came back from that injury, he had gotten better every time out. I think he’s playing his best hockey for us right now. That really helped us turn the corner. It was like adding a defenceman to our lineup that was really able to take on these minutes. We were giving him these minutes early in the season, but it wasn’t going as well, and it was hurting our team, but he has really stabilized his game, and taken very big steps, and our team has benefited from it.
The thing that stands out is Liljegren was struggling at the start as Keefe said, and as another poster said, people like Dreger and Friedman have stuck by that, even though he is playing really well right now.

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[A1LeafNation]

Liljegren reminds me of a young Stralman.

Id like to bring in Stralman to mentor his transition to the NHL.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Liljegren reminds me of a young Stralman.

Id like to bring in Stralman to mentor his transition to the NHL.

Stralman is falling apart at the seems the last few seasons. Stralman of 3 years ago would be great.

Honestly just pair him with Muzzin for some shutdown 5 on 5 minutes once and a while.

 

[Nineteen67]

Good. Another year of cooking and doing it for the whole year will be great.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Good. Another year of cooking and doing it for the whole year will be great.

Lily just needs to eliminate the turnovers and bad pinches. He’s made huge strides in simplifying his game in recent weeks and he’s now getting rewarded with power play time.

You can’t deny his superior mobility and transition game. Once he reduces the mistakes he’s going to be a solid top four NHL defender with some offensive upside. So far in the AHL playoffs he’s been very solid.

 

[Nineteen67]

Lily just needs to eliminate the turnovers and bad pinches. He’s made huge strides in simplifying his game in recent weeks and he’s now getting rewarded with power play time.

You can’t deny his superior mobility and transition game. Once he reduces the mistakes he’s going to be a solid top four NHL defender with some offensive upside. So far in the AHL playoffs he’s been very solid.

I’ve never seen the guy play. He sounds like a guy that could use another year in the minors to mature, but he may be forced to play in the NHL next year and the Leafs will have live with the bad pinches and turnovers.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I’ve never seen the guy play. He sounds like a guy that could use another year in the minors to mature, but he may be forced to play in the NHL next year and the Leafs will have live with the bad pinches and turnovers.

Lily is probably already better than Gardiner defensively and he’s still improving. The real question is how the fans at Scotiabank will test him as historically they’ve been tough on young defenders.

I think his play in the AHL playoffs will dictate whether he’s ready to start next season with the leafs.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Lily is probably already better than Gardiner defensively and he’s still improving. The real question is how the fans at Scotiabank will test him as historically they’ve been tough on young defenders.

I think his play in the AHL playoffs will dictate whether he’s ready to start next season with the leafs.

I’m one of Liljegrens biggest fans but if you think he’s even close to Gardiner defensively right now, you don’t have a clue.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I’m one of Liljegrens biggest fans but if you think he’s even close to Gardiner defensively right now, you don’t have a clue.

His career -10 in game 7’s say you’re wrong.

 

[Nineteen67]

Lily is probably already better than Gardiner defensively and he’s still improving. The real question is how the fans at Scotiabank will test him as historically they’ve been tough on young defenders.

I think his play in the AHL playoffs will dictate whether he’s ready to start next season with the leafs.

Playoff success is a start but I wouldn’t get too hyped up yet.

The Leafs may not have a choice but to throw him out there. They can’t be worse than they were since December and really have nothing to lose. I’d rather miss the playoffs and develop some solid D rather fall behind like they did this.

 

[Martin Skoula]

He needs to be in a position to be allowed to take risks for a few months at least before hitting the NHL full time. Getting pigeonholed as a guy who goes on the ice, moves the play to the offensive zone, and gets off is a waste of his potential.

Rielly survived that process because we had no one else other than Gardiner who could make things happen offensively. Liljegren has too much offensive depth ahead of him to learn on the job the same way.

 

[Nooodles]

He's a beauty and will be a solid top 4 D for us for years to come. I still think he will break out offensively as well in his 3rd or 4th year in the NHL.

 

[Trapper]

Playoff success is a start but I wouldn’t get too hyped up yet.

The Leafs may not have a choice but to throw him out there. They can’t be worse than they were since December and really have nothing to lose. I’d rather miss the playoffs and develop some solid D rather fall behind like they did this.

There will be a battle for the bottom D spots between Lily/Rosen/Sandin/etc.
Let's see how they progress.
It's not the AHL. If you watch the AHL you see the extra time vs. NHL and some plays/passes would just not fly at the pro level. Good players will pick you clean.
It's a big adjustment to play all 82 games at the top level. Even Dermott has had some bumps.

 

[francis246]

His career -10 in game 7’s say you’re wrong.

So you’re basing defensive ability based on 3 games..?

This fan base can be so backwards sometimes. Liljegren is not better than Gardiner defensively.

 

[DarkKnight]

I listened to this interview on 1050 yesterday and it was revealing as well. The last bolded part was fascinating, Keefe saying before the injury his play was poor, his big minutes in the name of development were actually hurting the team. Now remember this is the exact same time Dubas was musing about bringing him up, then he got hurt. I always felt Dubas was pumping tires rather than serious, because his play wasn't up to snuff...now his coach confirms it, in no uncertain terms. And people like the OP would bizarrely lose their minds if anyone dared suggest he was struggling- which wasn't a criticism, he's a kid, just an observation- which he obviously was.

Lil is having an absolutely amazing playoffs, and has found another gear which is exciting for the Leafs moving forward. We may just have two top 4 kids percolating, and that will be key in a cap world. It's exciting to watch him develop.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I’m one of Liljegrens biggest fans but if you think he’s even close to Gardiner defensively right now, you don’t have a clue.

Gardiner himself is not good defensively. Liljegren can make a claim he's better already. Gardiner's partners make Gardiner look better than he is, and any team who signs him is likely going to regret it as much as the Rangers regretted signing Shattenkirk

 

[RoadWarrior]

So you’re basing defensive ability based on 3 games..?

This fan base can be so backwards sometimes. Liljegren is not better than Gardiner defensively.

Touting Jake Gardiner as some defensive stalwart is a very weak argument.

 

[Spirit of 67]

I’ve never seen the guy play.

Thanks

 

[Spirit of 67]

Lily is probably already better than Gardiner defensively and he’s still improving. The real question is how the fans at Scotiabank will test him as historically they’ve been tough on young defenders.

I think his play in the AHL playoffs will dictate whether he’s ready to start next season with the leafs.

Training camp will decide that.

 

[Randy Randerson]

His career -10 in game 7’s say you’re wrong.

friendly advice, plus/minus is not a useful stat for evaluating individuals, and the format it's kept in makes it almost valueless for any reason

 

[SprDaVE]

Very likely in the Leafs lineup to start the season, unless he has a terrible training camp. He's ready to take the next step I think.

He started the year off slow but he's been damn good since returning from that high ankle sprain.

 

[RoadWarrior]

friendly advice, plus/minus is not a useful stat for evaluating individuals, and the format it's kept in makes it almost valueless for any reason

It’s useful when the minuses are related to turnovers by that player.

 

[Nineteen67]

Training camp will decide that.

Like the backup goalie?

 

[SprDaVE]

Like the backup goalie?

Liljegren is waiver exempt. Sparks was not.

 

[Randy Randerson]

It’s useful when the minuses are related to turnovers by that player.

they don't keep a ledger of causality for each goal, so you're making my point for me here. I have no issue with you not liking Gardiner's defence, but unless you have an accounting for every goal for and against that he's ever been on the ice for, using plus/minus doesn't hold up as a means of proving anything. Btw, he's a lifetime plus player who's been hugely on the plus side since the team got good, does that mean he's been really good defensively outside of game 7's?