Sheldon Keefe reveals why he took Timothy Liljegren out of the lineup this past week
After making moves to acquire a pair of defenseman last week, the Leafs suddenly have a ton of defensive depth, even with Rasmus Sandin being shipped out to Washington. The problem with having as many NHL defensemen as the Leafs do, of course, is that not everyone can play.
The Leafs currently have a D corps that includes the likes of Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Jake McCabe, Justin Holl, Mark Giordano, Luke Schenn, Timothy Liljegren, Erik Gustafsson, Conor Timmins and Jordie Benn. That's 10 bodies who can all play at the NHL level with only 6 spots available.
With McCabe, Schenn and Gustafsson just coming in last week, playing time is very important. That's why Sheldon Keefe had penciled each of them in for the Buds' last two games against Calgary and Vancouver. Unfortunately, it meant that someone had to sit and Timothy Liljegren had drawn the short straw this time around.
Liljegren understands why he had to play, but he also knew that it wouldn't be long before he got the opportunity to play again. He told the media on Monday that he plans to work as hard as he can and play at his best to avoid coming out again. Well, on Tuesday, Sheldon Keefe told the media what he told Liljegren before scratching him last week. It pretty much is right in line with what Liljegren had to say on Monday.
-Keefe on taking Liljegren out of the lineup last week
The Leafs' depth is probably the best problem they could having heading into the playoffs. For teams who want to go on a long run, they require a very deep team. There's arguably no team deeper on defense than the Leafs are right now, with 10 bodies who can all give them quality minutes.
I'm sure Liljegren and the rest of the bottom pairing guys aren't wild about having to sit out games here and there, but I'm sure that they all understand that if the goal is to win a Stanley Cup, there time will come to contribute.
