Wings Nation First Round Targets: Timothy Liljegren
6 years ago
Every year, it seems a one-time highly touted defenceman finds his way to fall into the latter half of the first round of the NHL draft. In 2017, Timothy Liljegren could be that guy.
Fairly or unfairly, he’s drawing comparisons to Jakob Chychrun, who similarly was rumored to be in the top 3-5 discussion before falling all the way to #16. Which of course, was the Red Wings’ pick before trading it away to Arizona in the Pavel Datsyuk deal. But that’s a topic for another day.
There’s been unironic #TankForLiljegren tweets coming in the last year from more than one fanbase, though they seem to have slowed considerably once the year caught up.
The Red Wings, at 9, should, in all likelihood, have the chance to pick Liljegren if they really want to. Projected as high as 2 earlier in the season, his stock has been steadily falling off as the season progressed, making him, just maybe, the token “enigma” of the 2017 NHL draft.
NHL CS Rankings
Liljegren comes in ranked 6th of European Skaters.
The Stats
Nothing about Liljegren’s offensive production particularly jumps out at you, but at the same time, this is a guy who’s been playing at the highest level of Swedish hockey on-and-off for the past two seasons. He’s had flashes of brilliance but isn’t a lock to put up a point per game, or anything too egregious. While clearly dominant at the U16 level, he picked up 10 points in 38 games while playing with men the next two years. It’s tough to project a player obviously, but the Erik Karlsson comparisons he was receiving earlier in the season have definitely rescinded. However, if they think he’s still able to round out his game to be an offensively minded, top-pairing defenceman, he’s definitely a guy the Red Wings should take a long look at.
The eye test
Here’s 9 minutes of Liljegren highlights over the past two years.
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Future Considerations had this to say about Liljegren earlier in the season:
An active, offensive-minded rearguard who likes the puck on his stick…skates with strong fluidity and agility, getting from one point to the next effortlessly as his feet always seem to be in motion…can take the puck end-to-end a la Erik Karlsson…his offensive IQ is off the charts as is his creativity…makes strong breakout passes to move along the attack to his forwards before jumping into the play himself…has a strong wrist shot that is quick off his blade, strong and accurate, and he gets some solid velocity on his slap shot
And a take from Dennis Schellenberg, from Hockey Prospectus
Very strong and matured puckmoving skills, delivers at both ends of the ice, has a booming shot and competes real hard in his own zone. A leader on the blue line who is competing against men in Sweden for the second season.
Lastly, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet:
A strong Five Nations Tournament alleviated all fears that his game was slipping. For most teams he is the best defenceman in this year’s draft.
Liljegren’s weaknesses aren’t many, but perhaps his strengths aren’t quite to the level some had hoped, either. That being said, if the opportunity is there, he might just
Does he fit with the Red Wings?
At least a few scouting services think so. ISS Hockey ranks Liljegren at 8th, Hockey Prospect.com ranks him at 10th, while elsewhere he’s falling as far as the low 20’s.
It’s a known strategy that in a process where you get typically 7 picks, drafting for need is always a wasted exercise if you’re missing out on a better possible player. As much as it’s easy to point at the Wings holes in their defence, it’s also crucial to know that the Wings finished 24th in offence this year with just 207 goals. None of their current forward crop looks to be elite-level, and no one born after 1991 scored more than 36 points.
So while it may seem like the obvious choice to draft a blueliner with their first round pick, this team is still likely a few years away from being competitive again and there’s no reason particularly why they should take a defenceman just because he’s available.
Depending on who you ask, Liljegren could be considered either a safe pick or one of the bigger question marks in the draft. If the Wings want to be a little gutsy for once, maybe, just maybe, they make Liljegren their man.
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