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Should the Sharks trade for Timothy Liljegren?

The other day, Harman Dayal and James Mirtle of The Athletic talked about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the team’s Timothy Liljegren problem. Liljegren is a 25-year-old right-side defenseman who is currently under contract for two more years at a $3 million AAV. Though he’s healthy, he’s only played one game for the Maple Leafs this season, falling back on the team’s depth chart. So now, the young defenseman sits in the press box, eating up cap space.

Why would the Leafs trade Liljegren now?

The Athletic article points out that Liljegren’s position on the depth chart is only going to get worse when Jani Hakanpää is healthy and ready to play. The team needs to make a move now before Hakanpää is healthy enough to return.

What’s more, sitting Liljegren is a waste of money. According to Puckpedia, the Maple Leafs have $1.18 million in cap space. Sitting a player making $3 million toward the cap seems like poor cap management for a team looking to win a Stanley Cup. The Maple Leafs could get tired of that wasted money and look for other options.

Add this to the fact that the Leafs aren’t doing great at the start of the season, and there are a lot of reasons to trade Liljegren now. Toronto is a middling 4-4-1 in the season, tied with three other teams for third in the Atlantic Division. Both the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins also have nine points. The Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings are close behind with eight. Even the worst team in the division, the Montreal Canadiens, are just two points back of the Maple Leafs.

There are only a few losses separating the Maple Leafs from becoming a basement dweller and that minus-two goal differential isn’t looking great, either.

The bottom line is that the Maple Leafs need to square things away before things get worse.

What does Liljegren offer a team?

Liljegren played 55 games for the Leafs last season and has a career total of 197 NHL games played.

He has 65 points in those 197 games, and 23 of those points came last season.

As you can see from his regularized-adjusted plus-minus chart courtesy of Evolving-Hockey, Liljegren is a bit of a hit-or-miss defenseman. He creates chances, but the team isn’t always converting on those created chances. He can also be a defensive liability.

That said, he played top-four minutes for the Maple Leafs last season and filled in well for John Klingberg, who was injured. Liljegren averaged 19:40 minutes per game.

Why haven’t teams jumped at a young, right-side defenseman yet?

So why haven’t teams jumped at the chance of acquiring Liljegren?

According to The Athletic article, “While Liljegren doesn’t excel in any one obvious area, he keeps the puck moving in the right direction when he’s on the ice. But his lack of a physical element — and more overt offensive ability — combined with inconsistent play have thus far limited his ceiling.

“As a result, Liljegren is the type of defenseman that some NHL coaches don’t value despite his ability to break the puck out and drive solid possession and scoring chance results,” the article continued. “He’s not hard to play against and isn’t always reliable in areas like the front of the net, making him a tweener as someone who might have top-four potential but hasn’t fully proved that. Some NHL teams question whether he can be more than a sheltered depth option.”

Why should the Sharks trade for Liljegren?

This actually makes the Sharks one of the few teams in the league that can benefit from trading for Liljegren.

For one thing, the Sharks have the cap space to make this move work. There’s plenty of flexibility to take a gamble on a young defenseman like Liljegren.

What’s more, the team’s timeline makes it the perfect time to take a gamble on a potential top-four defenseman without risking any of the playoff window. If Liljegren misses, it doesn’t set the Sharks’ timeline back any.

Option 1: Pick Liljegren up off of waivers

So, let’s say that the Sharks want to get Liljegren. How would the team go about acquiring him?

In an ideal world, the Sharks would pick Liljegren up off of waivers for nothing. Since San Jose is once again, the worst team in the league, the team gets first dibs. If the Maple Leafs were to put Liljegren on waivers today, he’d be a Shark tomorrow.

Option 2: Trade a prospect to the Maple Leafs

Of course, we know that this is a last resort for the Maple Leafs, and something drastic would have to happen to put the team in a crunch. You don’t become a Stanley Cup-winning team by giving away assets, even assets you don’t need.

So, the Maple Leafs are looking for a trade, preferably one that will make them better as well. Since they don’t have a ton of cap space, offering the Leafs a player like Mikael Granlund won’t help the situation. The Sharks can’t retain salary and we’re not sure that a forward is what the Leafs need.

We’ll talk defensemen in a minute, but a prospect could be an option. While San Jose likely won’t part with a defensive prospect, a player like Collin Graf, Thomas Bordeleau, Ethan Cardwell, Brandon Coe or Tristen Robins might be on the table.

There might be a lot more options available if a right-side defenseman is coming the other way.

Barring a few off-limits players, this is a trade that General Manager Mike Grier might seriously consider.

Option 3: Trade Mario Ferraro

But it’s not my favorite. This one is.

Trade Mario Ferraro.

Truthfully, trading any of San Jose’s current defensemen would work, but Ferraro might be the most appealing to both sides. We’ve already determined that the Maple Leafs don’t need another right-side defenseman. That takes Matt Benning, Cody Ceci and Jan Rutta out of the mix. There’s no way we’re getting the Leafs to take on Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract.

The team just traded for Jake Walman and got him at a steal, so it’s doubtful that he’s on the trade block. That leaves Ferraro and Henry Thrun, either of which would be fine to trade. However, trading Ferraro is likely a better deal for both sides.

For one thing, it’s almost an even money trade. The Maple Leafs will pay a bit more than the Sharks since Ferraro is signed for $3.25 million per season. However, the lengths of the contract are the same. Two years left for each of them.

The Maple Leafs would get a proven NHL defenseman who can play a second or third-pairing responsibly. Ferraro is likely an upgrade from Simon Benoit and potentially a better option than Jake McCabe as well. Ferraro’s stats are not far off from either of the players and I would argue that he’s played much tougher competition than either of them.

The assets that Ferraro would bring to the Leafs in the playoffs would be immeasurable. He blocks shots. Like a ton of them. He’s also able to play heavy minutes. He could move up the lineup if necessary and not have a problem. It would be good for the Maple Leafs to have a steady player like Ferraro on the blueline.

Conclusion

If the Sharks trade Ferraro for Liljegren in a straight one-for-one deal, it would benefit both teams. We’ve already pointed out that Ferraro would make the Maple Leafs a better team without adding significant salary.

For the Sharks, it does two things. First, it gives the team another option on the right-side, something that has been lacking in its depth chart. Second, it frees up the left side. Most Sharks fans can agree that it’s time for Shakir Mukhamadullin to make the jump to the NHL. This will open up the space on the roster and leave Vlasic as the seventh-defenseman when he’s healthy.

It’s a good deal for both sides.

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