BertCorbeau
F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
I think the cringy thing is that Mirtle seems to effectively write off Liljegren after one 11-game sample despite looking extremely advanced for his age. It's just like writing off Sandin after he did not look like an NHLer for long stretches of his 28-game sample.
However, that is only if they are referring to his overall potential, and not what kind of role he could fill next year. Liljegren is not going to be able to fill a top 4 role next year out of the gate... He will likely only be able to be a 5 or 6 at best to start, and then maybe mid-season can rise up to be a #4 if things go well. However if they think his overall potential is only a #5 or #6 after his brief NHL sample, then there are not too many teams with defensive prospects with top 4 potential.
This and the questioner's comment about his lack of offensive instincts when his production at the AHL level, for his age, has been actually really good.