The emergence of Timothy Liljegren as a legit top-pairing defenseman should not be so surprising
Timothy Liljegren was drafted 17th overall by the Leafs during the 2017 entry draft. Since then, he's switched between playing in the AHL with the Marlies and the Leafs before becoming a permanent part of the roster last season. With all that movement, along with illness and injuries, it's been easy to forget what kind of prospect the Swede was.
2017 was a notable draft class, with the likes of Nolan Patrick, Elias Petterson and Cale Makar being some of the top picks. There were only five defensemen drafted before Liljegren, with Miro Heiskanen being the highest draft pick of the class at 3rd overall. To see Liljegren ranked at number two on some prospect lists for a draft class of this caliber says a lot.
Unfortunately, an illness jeopardized Liljegren's season during his draft year. A silver lining, however, is that he ended up in Toronto despite the possibility of being a higher pick.
Liljegren missed almost the first month of this season after undergoing hernia surgery. However, he returned on Saturday against the Bruins and has since collected two goals in three games. With how he played against the Golden Knights on Tuesday, Liljegren would likely have been a star of the game had the Leafs been victorious. Luckily, there's still lots of time for him to show up and show out.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 10 | 169 ANSWERS The emergence of Timothy Liljegren as a legit top-pairing defenseman should not be so surprising Are you surprised with the emergence of Timothy Liljegren? | ||
| Yes | 42 | 24.9 % |
| No | 127 | 75.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
