Dec 16, 2019
Liljegren ‘ready to go’ if called upon by Leafs
Young defenceman says growing role with the AHL Marlies has him prepared for NHL debut, Kristen Shilton writes.
TSN Toronto reporter Kristen Shilton checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs. The team held a 12:05 p.m. practice at Ford Performance Centre on Monday.
When the Maple Leafs’ recalled Timothy Liljegren from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies on an emergency basis Monday, they offered the rookie no guarantee his NHL debut was forthcoming. But the 20-year-old is confident he’s ready to handle that moment when the time comes.
“I feel like I've been playing pretty well down with the Marlies so I'm ready to go,” Liljegren said after the Leafs’ practice on Monday. “It's a good feeling. I felt pretty good down with the Marlies so to get the call-up feels good.”
Liljegren leads all Marlies’ defencemen this season with 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 24 games, while playing on a pairing with Rasmus Sandin. The day before Liljegren was recalled to the Leafs, Sandin was loaned by Toronto to Team Sweden for the World Junior Championships, a tournament that Liljegren said his partner was “excited” to participate in.
So while Sandin began preparations to head overseas, Liljegren was fielding a call he’d been hoping to get from the NHL.
“The [Leafs] just told me basically that a couple of guys were a little banged up,” Liljegren said. “And they just wanted me here in case something happened and I should be ready to go.”
One of those questionable blueliners was Tyson Barrie, who blocked a shot off his foot in the first period against Edmonton on Saturday and was unable to return.
Barrie participated fully in practice on Monday, but Toronto wasn’t taking any chances on his availability for Tuesday’s game against Buffalo, and will insert Liljegren if needed.
“We needed some insurance here, but it also serves as a great opportunity to have guys like [Liljegren] come up and get reps in practice and find a level of comfort around here that could serve him well in the future,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “But he certainly earned it.”
Keefe would know better than most, having coached Liljegren with the Marlies ever since Toronto drafted the Swede 17th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. His professional career hasn’t been without its up and downs so far, but through it all Keefe has seen a better player emerge.
“With the progress that he's made, and of course I've lived that with him and been there, at times people have been hard on him,” Keefe said. “His development hasn't been as quick as some might like, but we've seen steady progress there. He's really worked at it and kept a good attitude and it was nice to see him here in the building today.”
Liljegren has been playing north of 20 minutes per night for the Marlies this season and gotten more opportunities on the power play, which has allowed him to be more relaxed on the ice.
“When you play over 20 minutes, you can have a little bit more poise to your game,” Liljegren said. “You don't feel like you have to do something every shift. You just kind of go with the flow and do stuff when you can, so it's easier to play good hockey when you play more minutes.”
From Keefe’s perspective, Liljegren has won the right to feel good about himself by building a strong foundation and consistently working at the details of his game.
“I think he's just continued on with where he left off last season in terms of being a very reliable guy away from the puck,” Keefe said. “And [he’s] playing against other team's best players and taking steps offensively this year with more power-play time. But he continues to be a mainstay on the penalty kill and really refining the defensive side of the game for himself, which is an important piece.”
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Saturday wasn’t the first time Barrie has taken a painful shot off the skate, but it was clear pretty quickly he wouldn’t be able to play the rest of the game at his best – and considering who was on the other side of the ice, the defenceman didn’t want to risk a return at less than 100 per cent.
“I've had that happen 100 times and usually you just walk it off and you can come back,” Barrie said. “But I couldn't get any weight on the foot so I just came out at the beginning of the second [period to test it] and I saw [Connor] McDavid getting ready to go. I thought, ‘I don't want to get caught; he's hard enough to play with two feet,’ so I figured one foot wouldn't be the best to go against.”
The Leafs announced that Barrie wouldn’t return to the game due to an ankle injury, but he was back on the ice for practice on Monday and felt like he’d dodged a bullet.
“[I feel] good. I'm still a bit sore with some swelling, but was able to practise today with very little issue,” he said. “It wasn't that hard of a shot but it just hit me right in a spot where I couldn't bend or put any pressure on it, so I tried it out but I couldn't go unfortunately. It was frustrating.”
Barrie said he “should be good” to suit up for the Leafs against Buffalo on Tuesday, but Keefe wasn’t going to make any declarations about his lineup.
“It's looking that way [that Barrie will play], based on the fact he was able to get through practice,” Keefe said. “We'll have to see if he and some of our other injured guys, just how they respond in the morning, how that goes. We'll make those decisions tomorrow.”
Keefe didn’t expand on who else is dealing with an injury problem, but both Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin have missed practices lately due to what the Leafs’ called “maintenance days.”
At this point, Barrie can’t foresee a setback, and was encouraged by how his body responded to treatment immediately after the injury happened.
“I was walking around [on Sunday] and I wasn’t limping anymore,” he said. “And I was able to put a lot more pressure on it and it seemed to make a big improvement overnight.”
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Patience may be a virtue, but it certainly hasn’t been easy for Trevor Moore to be stoic on the sidelines while recovering from an injured shoulder.
The winger was hurt back on Nov. 15 against Boston and has missed the Leafs’ last 13 games, but after participating fully in consecutive practices, Moore looks primed to return as soon as Tuesday.
“It’s been a long four weeks here,” Moore said. “When you start feeling a little better you think, 'Hey, I'm ready to jump back in there and go for it,' but the medical staff has done a great job and I'm excited to get back.”
Moore said he didn’t originally think the hit that took him out would be so costly.
“I was trying to grab the puck and get to the neutral zone and then just kind of caught it in a bad spot, bobbled it and there was a big guy [Chris Wagner] on the other side,” Moore said. “I got the wind knocked out of me and I got up like I was trying to be okay and then felt like something was wrong there.”
In preparation for his comeback, Moore has been able to lean on teammates like Travis Dermott, who just dealt with a shoulder injury himself.
“[He’s helped me with] navigating the part about recovery and then also what you'll feel when you get back,” Moore said of Dermott. “General consensus is that it's going to be a little sore, but as long as it's not too bad [that's positive]. [I’ve spent] a lot of time in the gym and just strengthening and all that good stuff, a lot of cardio, which has been fun, but glad to be back on the ice doing it that way.”
It was just five days after Moore got hurt that the Leafs replaced former head coach Mike Babcock with Keefe, someone Moore knows well from the three seasons he spent with the Marlies from 2016-19.
Moore said he’s “excited” now to have Keefe behind the Leafs’ bench as well.
“Sheldon's a guy that I love playing for,” he said. “He's always been fair with me and honest with me and that's something that you can only appreciate as a player, so I'm looking forward to it.”
Keefe can tell how difficult it’s been for Moore to allow his body proper time to heal.
“I’ve seen [that] he’s worked,” Keefe said. “I’ve come to expect that from him. He has a great attitude about it and comes to the rink every day. I know he’s anxious to get playing; it’s a tough time to be injured and not around and not involved. I believe I’ve got a good relationship with him from our time with the Marlies and I’ve talked with him a lot. Once we do get him up and running, we’ll be looking forward to having him.”
Maple Leafs lines at practice:
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Nylander-Matthews-Kapanen
Engvall-Kerfoot-Mikheyev
Moore-Gauthier-Spezza
Extras: Timashov
Rielly-Barrie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Ceci
Marincin-Liljegren
Andersen
Hutchinson