The Toronto Maple Leafs are in their Stanley Cup window and one trade pitch has the team acquiring a former fifth-overall pick forward for a disgruntled defenseman.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs send Liljegren to the Utah Hockey Club for Barrett Hayton.
Maple Leafs acquire:
Barrett Hayton
Utah acquires:
Timothy Liljegren
The one-for-one swap would see both teams trade former first-round picks who haven’t lived up to expectations. It is a trade that Toronto likely would do while Utah would likely want more from the Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs would acquire Hayton who was selected fifth overall in the 2018 NHL draft. He would project to be Toronto’s third-line center and add some depth scoring to the bottom of the lineup. He dealt with injuries last season as he only skated in 33 games recording 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points. Hayton is in the first year of his two-year $5.3 million deal.
In return, the Maple Leafs would deal Liljegren who was selected 17th overall in the 2017 NHL draft but is a healthy scratch in Toronto. The defenseman is in the first year of his two-year $6 million deal. Last season, he skated in 55 games recording 3 goals and 20 assists for 23 points.
Maple Leafs Likely to Trade Liljegren
Liljegren has been in and out of Toronto’s lineup for years as the former first-round pick hasn’t lived up to expectations.
During training camp, with new coach Craig Berube at the helm, Liljegren had a chance to make a statement. However, the new coach took aim at the Swede as he was disappointed with his play.
“Lily’s gotta do things quicker. He’s got to be a little bit heavier in his battles, moving pucks quicker and simplify his game,” Berube said. “He’s obviously battling. He wants to be a guy in the lineup every night, and that’s great. But sometimes you put too much on your plate. Simplify the game a little bit more. And do your job as a defenceman killing plays and being heavy.”
Following Liljegren being a healthy scratch for Toronto’s first two games, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported the Maple Leafs are looking to move him.
“Sounds like Toronto is working to find a landing spot for Timothy Liljegren. He’s down the depth chart, not a situation anyone is happy with,” Friedman wrote in his 32 Thoughts article.
Liljegren was selected 17th overall in the 2017 NHL draft by Toronto.
Hayton Signs Extension With Utah
Hayton was an RFA this summer, but the former fifth-overall pick signed a two-year $5.3 million extension.
Although Hayton has yet to become a top-line player in the NHL, Utah general manager Bill Armstrong was pleased to get the deal done.
“We are very pleased to sign Barrett to an extension,” said Armstrong in a statement. “Barrett is a reliable two-way center who is strong in the face-off circle and is a great complement down the middle to our high-skilled forwards. We look forward to having him back with our organization.”
In his NHL career, Hayton has skated in 211 games recording 37 goals and 50 assists for 87 points.
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