Maple Leafs Defenseman may be the solution to the New York Rangers defensive woes

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Joshua Deeds
October 30, 2024 (5:59 PM)

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The New York Rangers need help as a contender, as they are in their window for winning the Stanley Cup.

One of their weaknesses currently is in the defensive core, as they utilize Victor Mancini to shore up the blue line.

There's an NHL defenseman available, who could be a solution to the bottom-pairing in Toronto.

Timothy Liljegren is the Maple Leafs defenseman who has had a lot of interest surrounding him lately. This was reported by Frank Seravalli on Wednesday on Sportsnet Radio.

"There are enough teams that are in the market... but the biggest thing going against Liljegren is his term (two years, $3M AAV)," said Seravalli.

"I do think there's a couple of teams that have shown some interest... I don't think they're going to have to eat money... But I don't believe it's going to be difficult (for the Leafs to trade him).

«A few teams have inquired and asked, 'Hey, What's the price going to be?' It seems there's enough demand that they could likely trade him without issue".

The Rangers will have to account for the cap space, and Liljegren will carry a $3 Million cap hit. As of October 30th, 2024, the Rangers have $451K currently.

So they'll have to work cap gymnastics to make it work, but arguably it will a slight concern it's not the cost of acquisition for him; Liljegren has been a regular scratch in Toronto, so he shouldn't cost too much, but it's the cap hit to be concerned about.

In 55 games last season with the Maple Leafs, Liljegren scored 23 points( 3 G, 20 A) with a +3 ranking on the ice, and 16 PIMs.