Timothy Liljegren understands his role on this team; his attitude and his latest comments prove that

For Liljegren, his path to the NHL wasn't as clear as Sandin's, despite playing a premium position like RHD. He was drafted a year before Sandin, but didn't get nearly a clean of a look as Sandin had gotten early on in his career. In fact, while Sandin made his way into 37 NHL games in his first three seasons in the Leafs' system, Liljegren played just 13 games in his first four seasons in Toronto.

When it finally came time to negotiate a new deal, the Leafs and Liljegren's agent quickly hammered out a 2-year, $2.8M extension, which carried a $1.4M AAV. When Kyle Dubas offered the same deal to Sandin and his agent, they scoffed at it and held out for almost the Leafs' entire training camp, demanding more money and a better opportunity, despite the Leafs being much more stocked down the left side than the right.

In the end, the hold-out was likely something that soured the Leafs on Sandin and when the opportunity to offload him came up for a fair price, a 1st round pick in 2023, which originally belonged to the Boston Bruins, and an NHL defenseman in Erik Gustafsson, the Leafs jumped at the chance.

The two followed very different paths and while one led to a happy and fruitful relationship in Toronto, rich with opportunity, the other led to a trade to Washington, who are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.

Liljegren has played well for the Leafs this season, but understands that on a team as deep as the Leafs are on defense, when it comes to rotating guys in and out, performance has everything to do with who plays and who sits in their rotations. He also understands that when his time comes to sit, there's another opportunity coming. He finds himself with that opportunity tonight against New Jersey, partnered with Morgan Rielly on the Leafs' top pair. Liljegren told the media yesterday that his goal is to continue to play to his full potential in an attempt to make the coach's decision tougher when the time comes to have someone else rotate in.

Liljegren has suited up in 50 games for the Leafs this season, amassing 5 goals and 10 assists for a total of 15 points over that span. He's also appeared to make real strides in his overall game and is currently one of the Leafs' more trustworthy defenders. He'll look to keep it all going tonight against the Devils.