Maple Leafs Ink Timothy Liljegren to a Two-Year Contract Extension
The NHL’s off-season has officially begun, and the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t waste any time.
One day after the Colorado Avalanche were crowned as 2022 Stanley Cup champions, the Maple Leafs announced a new contract extension for defenseman Timothy Liljegren, extending him through 2023-24. His deal also carries a $1.4-million cap hit per season.
In terms of actual salary, Liljegren will earn $1.3 million in 2022-23 and $1.5 million in 2023-24, according to PuckPedia. When his contract expires, the 23-year-old will become eligible for restricted free agency and he’ll also hold arbitration rights.
At that time, Liljegren will stand just two seasons away from entering unrestricted free agency. If Toronto were to offer him a qualifying offer in ‘24, the one-year deal would be valued at his salary from the previous season, of $1.5 million.
The Kristianstad, Sweden native was selected by the Maple Leafs 17th overall in the 2017 Draft. Three seasons later, the right-handed defenseman made his NHL debut in Toronto versus the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 18, 2020.
In that game, Liljegren played 10:40 minutes, recording one shot on goal and one block as the Maple Leafs fell 6-2 to the Blackhawks. Captain Jonathan Toews led the way with two goals and four points on the night.
Since then, Liljegren has appeared in 74 career NHL contests across three seasons with Toronto. This season, he posted career-highs in goals (five), points (23) and average ice-time (16:24) through 61 games, which also finished as a new career-best.
Thanks to his impressive performance, the promising young blueliner received some recognition for the 2022 Calder Trophy, ultimately finishing tied for 11th with six points. He claimed one fourth-place vote and three for fifth place.
Despite being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs once again, Liljegren made his post-season debut during the club’s opening series versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. There, he earned some valuable experience, logging four hits and two shots in a pair of games.
After re-signing veteran Mark Giordano to a two-year, $1.6-million contract earlier this off-season, Toronto now has six defensemen signed to its NHL roster for next season. And that’s without RFA Rasmus Sandin and UFA Ilya Lyubushkin.
If both Sandin and Lyubushkin are ultimately retained, the team is sure to feature a very crowded blue line in 2022-23, headlined by Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie. Given Toronto’s need to create cap space, perhaps one of those skaters could be moved this summer.
It’s also possible Justin Holl could potentially become trade bait, as he finished this past season near the bottom of the depth chart and is under contract for just one more campaign at $2 million.
With Liljegren’s new contract freshly inked, however, it appears the Maple Leafs view him as a key piece of their future moving forward.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85