Yes lots of factors to consider here. That is why I always say we need a better development plan. There is a lot involved and other teams do a much better job of defender development.
Tribute Timothy Liljegren Discussion
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Crosscrease14
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Tbf playing defence in a hockey crazy market like Toronto or Montreal is more difficult. Every mistake is more noticeable.
I think a lot of leafs defence prospects play too safe when they come up because of the spotlight.
Yes again even more reason to make sure we develop more defenders. And there are so many guys we threw away like Carlyle because we gave up on them too soon because we did such a sh*t job of developing them. It freakin takes way longer to develop a defender. I bet we throw away Dermy and Lily too. We are impatient. Other teams look at them and say ok these guy have NHL level skills so lets properly train them to ply defense. We don't. We have 1 true grizzled vet. He should be guiding and teaching Sandin, Dermy or Lily. It is that simple. and Rielly has to do it for another. That's it. and we need 1 more guy. Keep Holl as your fil in guy. Marty needs to get shot to da sun.
Whats the upside of this kid ? Will he be on the roster next year ? If yes, PP time ? , How many minutes and wich lines ?
stickty111
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Upside: a top 4 defenseman who can play on both special teams and drive play.
Roster: he could make it next year but might likely start with the Marlies.
PP time: this seems unlikely
Minutes and lines: on the 3rd pair with the Leafs, he gets probably 14-15 minutes with some PK time. Paired likely with Dermott or Sandin.
Liljegren shooting for top-six role on Leafs blue line, whenever that might be | Torono Sun
During a conference call last week with reporters, Leafs assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, who also serves as the Toronto Marlies general manager, said he would “be surprised” if Liljegren doesn’t play in top seven or eight defencemen with the Leafs next season.
Liljegren has a desire to go one better.
“For sure, my goal is to get into the top six,” Liljegren said. “I played three years in the AHL and I had 11 games (with the Leafs) this year, so I think the next step would be to try to crack the roster full-time.”
After making his NHL debut on Jan. 18 against the Chicago Blackhawks — and becoming the answer to a trivia question as he became the 1,000th player in Leafs franchise history — Liljegren participated in the 2020 AHL all-star classic before getting recalled by the Leafs, playing in eight games in February and two more in March.
In those 11 games with the Leafs, there were some bumps, which was to be expected. Liljegren was on the ice for eight goals against during five-on-five play and three for, while averaging 10 minutes 18 seconds of ice a game, and in possession, he had a mark of 43.7%.
But the man behind the Leafs bench, Sheldon Keefe, was instrumental in Liljegren’s growth with the Marlies. From Keefe’s guidance with the farm club, as well as that of the assistant coaches, came discipline in Liljegren’s game.
“He has taught me to play through structure, but still be creative within that structure,” Liljegren said. “I’ve learned when to calculate the risks of being creative and choosing the right time to do certain things."
“Just the fact he has seen me play for three years is good for him and me. He knows what I can develop, and I know what I can do when he is coaching."
“He helped me a lot with the transition to the NHL.”
Liljegren indicated he would be part of the Leafs’ group of Black Aces when, or if, the 2019-20 regular season or playoffs are resumed.
..................
Liljegren doesn’t necessarily see a lack of right-handed shots on the Leafs blue line as an advantage in his favour.
“I think every team wants a right-hand defenceman on the right side, but if there is a player who is better than you, you’re not going to play,” Liljegren said. “It matters a bit, but you still have to be better than the next guy.”
If Liljegren, who turned 21 on April 30, does become a Leafs regular in ’20-’21, he would join six other recent Toronto first-round picks in the lineup, including Morgan Rielly, Frederik Gauthier (assuming he still is with the Leafs), William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Rasmus Sandin.
“I gained confidence from playing at that stage, and the feeling that I can play at that level,” Liljegren said. “Gaining that experience is going to help me a lot in the future.”
During a conference call last week with reporters, Leafs assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, who also serves as the Toronto Marlies general manager, said he would “be surprised” if Liljegren doesn’t play in top seven or eight defencemen with the Leafs next season.
Liljegren has a desire to go one better.
“For sure, my goal is to get into the top six,” Liljegren said. “I played three years in the AHL and I had 11 games (with the Leafs) this year, so I think the next step would be to try to crack the roster full-time.”
After making his NHL debut on Jan. 18 against the Chicago Blackhawks — and becoming the answer to a trivia question as he became the 1,000th player in Leafs franchise history — Liljegren participated in the 2020 AHL all-star classic before getting recalled by the Leafs, playing in eight games in February and two more in March.
In those 11 games with the Leafs, there were some bumps, which was to be expected. Liljegren was on the ice for eight goals against during five-on-five play and three for, while averaging 10 minutes 18 seconds of ice a game, and in possession, he had a mark of 43.7%.
But the man behind the Leafs bench, Sheldon Keefe, was instrumental in Liljegren’s growth with the Marlies. From Keefe’s guidance with the farm club, as well as that of the assistant coaches, came discipline in Liljegren’s game.
“He has taught me to play through structure, but still be creative within that structure,” Liljegren said. “I’ve learned when to calculate the risks of being creative and choosing the right time to do certain things."
“Just the fact he has seen me play for three years is good for him and me. He knows what I can develop, and I know what I can do when he is coaching."
“He helped me a lot with the transition to the NHL.”
Liljegren indicated he would be part of the Leafs’ group of Black Aces when, or if, the 2019-20 regular season or playoffs are resumed.
..................
Liljegren doesn’t necessarily see a lack of right-handed shots on the Leafs blue line as an advantage in his favour.
“I think every team wants a right-hand defenceman on the right side, but if there is a player who is better than you, you’re not going to play,” Liljegren said. “It matters a bit, but you still have to be better than the next guy.”
If Liljegren, who turned 21 on April 30, does become a Leafs regular in ’20-’21, he would join six other recent Toronto first-round picks in the lineup, including Morgan Rielly, Frederik Gauthier (assuming he still is with the Leafs), William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Rasmus Sandin.
“I gained confidence from playing at that stage, and the feeling that I can play at that level,” Liljegren said. “Gaining that experience is going to help me a lot in the future.”
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Sounds like a humble, smart, reasonable kid, who doesn’t take anything for granted.
Havoc
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ACC1224
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Sounds more like he put on the covid-15 like the rest of us.
Morgs
#16 #34 #44 #88 #91
It's what the league has mandated teams say for injuries, Covid positive tests, etc.
It could literally mean he's "unfit to play", but it's more likely that a gym rat like him is either injured or sick. No matter what though it's most likely an unfortunate situation not seeing him on the ice today.
Golden_Jet
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kevsh
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I was going on the assumption that a team wouldn't say to a reporter (or make public) that a player was unfit if it was something else as "unfit" implies he was out of shape or, simply not fit. Kind of throwing the player under the bus -- a public shaming that would be justified if he showed up at camp looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
If it was an actual injury why not just say he suffered a LBI, etc? If he has a non-Covid-related illness, just say he has a non-Covid-related illness. If it is Covid ... LBI?
If it was an actual injury why not just say he suffered a LBI, etc? If he has a non-Covid-related illness, just say he has a non-Covid-related illness. If it is Covid ... LBI?
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Golden_Jet
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Morgs
#16 #34 #44 #88 #91
It's not our right to know what is going on with him and other players. If the league does not want to share why people are not playing, that's the way it's going to be. I'm sure they'd like to not only protect players that test positive, but I also doubt they'd like the total numbers to become completely public.
We're going to be hearing a lot of "unfit to play" in the next couple months, and it could be a whole range of things. I just doubt in Liljegren's case it's about him being out of shape (i mean unless Covid has completely knocked him off his regimen).
“Unfit to play” is the official way to denote that a player has not been cleared by doctors to play for whatever reason.
the league made it clear the COVID was not going to be disclosed publicly and to do so they use formal “unfit to play” terminology for everything. If they continued to say LBI/UBI etc... then a covid case comes along and they say “well he just can’t play” it turns up sleculation.
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