The San Jose Sharks have acquired defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the Toronto Maple Leafs in trade for defenseman Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round and 2026 sixth-round draft decide, per a workforce announcement. Toronto will get the higher of the third-round picks that San Jose beforehand acquired from the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche.
The transfer ends a tumultuous run for the seventeenth general decide within the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Maple Leafs have been affected person with the 25-year-old, ready for him to understand the potential that made him a first-round decide. Sadly for Toronto, that untapped potential by no means translated to outcomes, as Liljegren couldn’t crack Toronto’s prime 4 on protection.
Liljegren was re-signed to a two-year, $6M contract again in late June, however regardless of the brand new contract, Liljegren shortly misplaced the belief of latest head coach Craig Berube and normal supervisor Brad Treliving. Liljegren has solely wearing one regular-season sport so far and struggled mightily, because the Maple Leafs have been out-chanced 21-2 whereas he was on the ice for 12 minutes of even-strength hockey.
Coming again the opposite means is 30-year-old depth defenseman Matt Benning. The Edmonton Alberta native is within the third yr of a four-year $5M contract, that means that Toronto will notice a cap financial savings of $1.75M within the transaction for this season and subsequent. Benning is a helpful defenseman who’s simply two years faraway from his finest offensive season as a professional (one aim and 23 assists in 77 video games). Whereas Benning will function priceless depth for Toronto, he’s unlikely to see the form of ice time he was seeing in San Jose and can most certainly be Toronto’s eighth defenseman.
