Major development for the Leafs on the blueline
Through 26 games thus far, the Maple Leafs have amassed a 15-6-5 record, good for 4th in the Eastern Conference and 9th in the overall league standings with games in hand on almost every team above them. I'd be curious to see where they might have been at this point with a healthy blueline.
The Leafs have endured significant hardships on the back end this season, starting with Conor Timmins having missed a month at the start of the season after suffering an injury during training camp. They have also endured injuries to John Klingberg, Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren, but the latter has been back on the ice over the past week or so, ramping up his level of activity.
On Thursday, we received a huge update on the Liljegren front, as Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed to the media, following the morning skate, that Liljegren is close to finally returning to action. Keefe told the media on Thursday that it's just about working on Liljegren's conditioning at this point.
Liljegren has been sidelined since November 2nd after a dangerous trip from Brad Marchand sent him crashing feet-first into the boards, resulting in a high-ankle sprain - though it originally looked much worse.
The 24-year-old defenseman has been limited to just 10 games as a result of his injury, but even prior to suffering his ankle sprain, Liljegren had been struggling to get his offensive game going to the tune of just 1 lone assist through his first 10 appearances.
Liljegren is currently in the final year of a 2-year deal that paid him $1.4M per season. He's set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season, so I'm sure he'd like to see his name penciled in on the scoresheet as often as possible the rest of the way so he can cash in on his next deal.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 14 | 775 ANSWERS Major development for the Leafs on the blueline How much would you pay Timothy Liljegren per season on his next deal? | ||
| $1.5M-$2M | 246 | 31.7 % |
| $2.1M-$3M | 391 | 50.5 % |
| $3.1M-$4M | 116 | 15 % |
| More than $4M | 22 | 2.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
