Liljegren bends learning curve
Top pick on track, less blue and white in world junior mix
Timothy Liljegren has done everything the Maple Leafs had hoped he would as a member of the Toronto Marlies.
Now Liljegren, one of the team’s top defence prospects, will be released to represent Sweden at the world junior hockey championship in Buffalo, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.
“It will be great for him,” Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello said Thursday, a day off for his NHL club. “He works at his game, he wants to be a pro, and he’s extremely mature for his age.”
Liljegren was a first-round pick in the June draft, 17th overall, and has one goal and seven assists in14 games in the American Hockey League.
It was an unusual set of circumstances — none revealed publicly — that led to the 18-year-old taking the uncommon step of leaving his club team in Rogle, Sweden, for the AHL. A source told the Star, however, that Liljegren wasn’t happy with how Rogle management handled his play after he returned from a bout of mononucleosis.
Liljegren bounced between the top league and the second tier. His minutes were limited, and Rogle is not known for developing NHL players. He saw his stature drop from a sure-fire top-five pick to the middle of the first round.
“It was a correct decision to keep him in North America,” said the source.
Certainly, Liljegren is learning the North American game and what it means to be a professional in one of the toughest hockey markets in the world.
“It was an organizational decision, and in my opinion the best for him and his development,” said Lamoriello. “We like everything about him: his overall abilities, his hockey sense. He’s still very young. There are no disappointments whatsoever.”
Typically, a first-round pick — especially one touted so highly when he was still 17 — becomes a team’s top prospect. But the Leafs are deep in next-level defencemen with the Marlies. Travis Dermott was on Team Canada two years ago, while Calle Rosen signed as a free agent and remains with the Marlies.
Liljegren might not even be the most important defenceman on the Swedish junior squad, with Rasmus Dahlin — widely touted as the top prospect for the 2018 draft — a sure thing for selection.
“It was a correct decision to keep him in North America.” SOURCE ON TOP LEAF PICK TIMOTHY LILJEGREN
For the second year in a row there will be no Leafs on Canada’s junior roster. The 32 prospects invited by Hockey Canada will start workouts on Tuesday in St. Catharines, while the Swedes will hold their pre-tournament camp in Niagara region as well. But there will be Leafs elsewhere:
Goalie Joseph Woll, who was on last year’s gold-medal-winning United States team, has been invited back.
Defenceman Eemeli Rasanen of the Kingston Frontenacs is part of Finland’s pre-tournament roster.
Several current Maple Leafs played on the world junior stage, and Lamoriello says the more the better.
“It exposes them to the best of their age group from around the world, and it gives you an opportunity to see how they compare,” he said. “It gives you an opportunity to see where their growth is, and what their potential is.”
There were more Leafs prospects in the mix last time. Woll and Jeremy Bracco were on the U.S. side. Carl Grundstrom represented Sweden for the second year in a row. Martins Dzierkals played for Latvia.
In 2015, some of the tournament’s biggest stars were Leafs’ property. Kasperi Kapanen scored the golden goal for Finland. Mitch Marner was one of Canada’s best players, with Dermott on the blue line. William Nylander suffered a concussion in Sweden’s opener, but Dmytro Timashov shone in his absence, while Nikita Korostelyov laced up for Russia. (Before he was drafted first over- all by the Leafs, Auston Matthews also led the U.S. team.)
This time, if they survive the final cuts, the Leafs could send three out of10 recent draft picks young enough to go.
The Russians are leaving out forward Vladislav Kara, who played for them at the world under-17 championship, while Canada never seemed very interested in the other Toronto candidates: defencemen Keaton Middleton, Nicolas Mattinen, Ryan O’Connell and Fedor Gordeev, forward Ryan McGregor and goalie Ian Scott. Scott represented Canada at the under-17s, while Middleton played in the Canada-Russia junior series in November.
“You’d always like to have as many as you possibly can, but we only have so many that are eligible,” said Lamoriello.
The Leafs chose Woll in the third round in 2016. He’s 7-5-2 with a .905 save mark in his second year with Boston College and alternated with Tyler Parsons on the U.S. squad last time, though Parsons got the assignment for the gold-medal game.
“We’ve seen quite a bit of him,” said Lamoriello.
“He plays for a great program and is one of their top players. He has a bright future.”
Rasanen was a second-round pick last summer and, at six-foot-seven and 208 pounds, he cuts an imposing figure. He has three goals and 18 assists, leading the Frontenacs defence in scoring.
“He had an excellent camp and obviously the Finnish federation thinks as highly of him as we do, with the way he’s played in junior,” said Lamoriello. “I don’t know if he’s a shooin, but being there and being one of the top players is good for us. He’s a size-and-strength defenceman that also has a bright future.”