Liljegren was expected to play a much larger role for the club this season after the departure of Ilya Lyubushkin and the expected departure of Justin Holl - the most likely candidate to move in order to open up cap space for Rasmus Sandin's eventual contract.
It was also reported on Monday that the Leafs are expected to place forward Pierre Engvall on LTIR to begin the season. Engvall's $2.25M cap hit combined with Liljegren's $1.4M cap hit means that the Leafs, who are currently $1.5M over the salary cap have bought themselves some time before they'll need to make a move to free up enough space to become cap compliant when both of Engvall and Liljegren return and after Sandin signs his new contract.
Liljegren signed a 2-year deal with the Leafs this summer, which carries a modest $1.4M per season.
POLL | ||
20 SEPTEMBRE | 209 ANSWERS Leafs defenseman expected to miss training camp due to undisclosed injury Who is Liljegren's best defensive partner this season? | ||
Morgan Rielly | 23 | 11 % |
Jake Muzzin | 32 | 15.3 % |
Mark Giordano | 130 | 62.2 % |
Rasmus Sandin | 24 | 11.5 % |
List of polls |