Could the Liljegren injury expedite a Sandin deal?
Per a report from TSN's Chris Johnston on Tuesday, the Leafs are expected to be without the services of Timothy Liljegren in training camp and likely the preseason as well. Naturally, once the report on Liljegren came out, people have been wondering what his all means for Rasmus Sandin.
Does a Liljegren injury force Kyle Dubas' hand and push him back to the negotiating table with Sandin's agent, Lewis Gross? According to the TSN OverDrive crew, that's not quite how how they see it. OverDrive Host Bryan Hayes, the onus is not on the Leafs to pay up, but rather on Sandin to put pen to paper on one of the offers on the table from the Leafs and use the hole left by Liljegren to prove that you belong in the NHL on a full-time basis.
The Leafs have reportedly offered Sandin 1-year, 2-year and potentially even 3-year options, with the 2-year deal being an identical offer to what was just signed by Liljegren, which carries a $1.4M AAV. Unfortunately for the Leafs, it's not just Sandin they're dealing with. It's also Lewis Gross, and we saw what Gross was all about during the William Nylander negotiations.
The bottom line here is that no, a Liljegren injury doesn't force the Leafs to press the panic button and cave in on the Sandin negotiations. If Sandin wants an opportunity to be a full-time NHLer, here's his opportunity. If he doesn't want to shift to the right side, that's on him.
As Jamie McLennan pointed out, once you start missing training camp sessions, you tend to be a little further behind everyone else, so all Sandin is doing by continuing to hold out is allow his competition to get a running start on keeping their spots and making it harder for himself to work his way into the lineup once he does get back.
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas touched on the situation this morning, stating that he would provide no updates on Sandin negotiations, but did state "he's an important young player for us and we hope to have him here as soon as possible".
-Dubas on Sandin's continued absence
Actual on ice sessions begin on Thursday. Hopefully there will be something to speak of in the next 24 hours.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 396 ANSWERS Could the Liljegren injury expedite a Sandin deal? What's your opinion of the Rasmus Sandin holdout? | ||
| Good for him. Go get your money, Sandman | 29 | 7.3 % |
| It's a bad look for a young player | 123 | 31.1 % |
| It's just a part of the business | 121 | 30.6 % |
| Trade him and move on | 123 | 31.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
