Trade Pitch Has Maple Leafs Dealing Former 1st-Round Pick For Veteran Forward

Getty Trade pitch has Maple Leafs dealing Timothy Liljegren to the Oilers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have scratched former first-round pick Timothy Liljegren and all signs point to him being traded.

The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs deal Liljegren to the Edmonton Oilers.

Maple Leafs acquire:

• Mattias Janmark
• 2025 sixth-round pick

Oilers acquire:

• Timothy Liljegren

The proposed deal does make sense as Edmonton gets much-needed defensive help while Toronto gets a veteran forward who can add some scoring to the bottom of the lineup.

Janmark is in the first year of a three-year $4.35 million deal. The 31-year-old can be Toronto’s third or fourth-line center and could allow John Tavares to move to the wing to make the Maple Leafs that much deeper. Last season, Janmark skated in 71 games recording 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points. In his NHL career, he’s skated in 567 games recording 80 goals and 117 assists for 197 points.

In return, Toronto would deal Liljegren who signed a two-year $6 million extension with the Maple Leafs this offseason. However, Liljegren struggled in training camp and has been a healthy scratch to begin the season as he’s skated in just 1 game. In his NHL career, Liljegren has skated in 197 games recording 14 goals and 51 assists for 65 points.

Maple Leafs Allowing Liljegren to Seek Trade

With Liljegren being Toronto’s seventh defenseman, Toronto allowed the Swede to talk to other teams to try and work out a trade.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman spoke on ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ and reported that Liljegren is allowed to talk to other teams.

“Toronto is preaching patience with this,” Friedman said. “They are simply saying there is no reason he can’t still play for us. However, he’s a 25-year-old player, he wants to play. I think he’d like to be in a position where he can play. I had heard this week that he had some permission to talk to other teams.”

However, no deal has been reached and Liljegren remains with the Maple Leafs and continues to be a healthy scratch.

Liljegren was selected 17th overall in the 2017 NHL draft by Toronto.

Oilers’ McDavid Suffers Injury

Edmonton captain and star player Connor McDavid left the Oilers’ game on October 28 after his first shift with an injury.

McDavid was ruled out for the remainder of the game and flew back to Edmonton, leaving the road trip early to undergo further testing.

The star player will not play on October 30 against the Nashville Predators, but past that, coach Kris Knoblauch wasn’t sure what the timeframe is.

“Obviously our team is going to look different,” Knoblauch said, “but maybe that’s one, two games; I’m not sure.”

However, NHL insider Chris Johnston of TSN spoke on ‘Insider Trading’ and said it’s not an insignificant injury. But, he says he isn’t sure how long McDavid will be out.

“I think we can infer that it’s not an insignificant injury,” Johnston said. “The fact that he’s had to travel back to Edmonton and, in the short term, the team has recalled a couple of players from the American Hockey League to fill his spot in the lineup while we await the news on how long he’ll be out of the lineup.”

McDavid has recorded 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in 10 games.