Liljegren has more trade value than you think

Timothy Liljegren is more valuable than you think.

The feeling by many talking heads in Toronto right now is that Timothy Liljegren's trade value is rather low at the moment largely because of him not playing much and his current contract situation.

Even Jonas Siegel from the latest Leaf Report podcast suggested the Leafs have to include a sweetener just to make the deal.

We need to pump the brakes on this take because it's getting out of hand.

Yes, I'm well aware Liljegren has only played in one game thus far this season and he's currently buried on on the depth chart. Yes, he's making three million a season this year and next. And yes, I'm aware there's a hard cap in today's NHL.

But the reality is Liljegren has a good enough resume that shows he's a proven NHL defenceman. The tough question that's yet to be fully answered: Is he a top four blueliner?

On this team at the present time, the answer is a blunt 'no' largely because of the players in front of him and the new coach's overall scheme/philosophy/ethos. On this team, he's a bottom pairing guy at best and there's no room for him in the top four when Rielly/Tanev/OEL/McCabe have that covered. Also, it's pretty clear Berube prefers others on the third pair.

My best guess is that Leafs brass know Liljegren is not in the club's longterm plans but they also know there's some value here.

In the offseason, the Leafs could've just walked away from signing Liljegren. But why walk away from an asset?

Inking him to a two-year, three million dollar deal is not going to scare teams away. You don't think rebuilding clubs would be interested in a 25-year-old former first rounder who has shown he's more than capable of playing minutes in the NHL? Did I mention he's also a right shot? I think there's several teams that would take Liljegren right now, slot him in their top six, and be willing to be patient with him.

The Leafs, in their current situation, just don't have that kind of patience anymore.

But just because he's not currently playing regular minutes on the Leafs, a club trying to contend for a Stanley Cup at the moment, doesn't mean he has zero trade value.