Did Rasmus Sandin turn into an allstar?
- Scabeh

we dont know yet.

he is still only 24, the others mentioned were 25 and 27 when they were considered good

I think the big difference between the Sandin trade and the same thing happening to Liljegren is that the hope was still alive with Sandin.

He was 22 at the time, showed flashes of interesting potential offensively, Washington took a chance. They probably regret it but.... it was in the realm of the "maybe he figures it out".

Liljegren is now 25, hasn't really progressed in the past few years and still somehow comes with a 3M cap hit for two seasons. He's not physical, he's not driving offense.... he's... what exactly?

Feels like you'd need a pretty desperate team to consider him a viable solution to whatever problem they'd have on defense.
- Scabeh

I don't disagree but he was your comparison not mine. There are a lot more out there. Generic, youngish blueliners that maintain some value bc they're youngish. This league has always put too much value in the hopes that something might work.

Look up July 1st and see what teams were throwing at questionable 30+ yr old depth blueliners like Jokiharji, Brodie, Lyubushkin, Dumba, Edmundson, Carrier ....the list goes on every year. Teams would love to avoid that.

Edit: and I'd add that saying Lilly hasn't improved isn't fair. He's not my cup of tea but he's one of those vanilla guys that's gone from putting up pretty good metrics for 15 minutes per night to almost 20 minutes per night last year.

I think the big difference between the Sandin trade and the same thing happening to Liljegren is that the hope was still alive with Sandin.

He was 22 at the time, showed flashes of interesting potential offensively, Washington took a chance. They probably regret it but.... it was in the realm of the "maybe he figures it out".

Liljegren is now 25, hasn't really progressed in the past few years and still somehow comes with a 3M cap hit for two seasons. He's not physical, he's not driving offense.... he's... what exactly?

Feels like you'd need a pretty desperate team to consider him a viable solution to whatever problem they'd have on defense.
- Scabeh

Let's split it down the middle:

The Leafs won't get much for him on the trade market, but they could easily find him a new home and rid themselves of the contract. There's plenty of teams who would want to take a chance on a 25 year old, right-shooting defenceman who is only making $3M X 2.

Let's split it down the middle:

The Leafs won't get much for him on the trade market, but they could easily find him a new home and rid themselves of the contract. There's plenty of teams who would want to take a chance on a 25 year old, right-shooting defenceman who is only making $3M X 2.
- Atomic Wedgie

See if Utah wants to make a trade like that. Lots of picks in the next few years.

Could be worse - we could be Sabres fans.

I wandered into their blog, hoping for some Bills talk.

I quickly decided not to post anything - they are in a very dark mood, and I didn't think my presence would be welcome - even if I was only looking to talk positively about the Bills.
- Atomic Wedgie

I can’t believe there’s a place so bad off that they wouldn’t be brightened by your presence.

I think the big difference between the Sandin trade and the same thing happening to Liljegren is that the hope was still alive with Sandin.

He was 22 at the time, showed flashes of interesting potential offensively, Washington took a chance. They probably regret it but.... it was in the realm of the "maybe he figures it out".

Liljegren is now 25, hasn't really progressed in the past few years and still somehow comes with a 3M cap hit for two seasons. He's not physical, he's not driving offense.... he's... what exactly?

Feels like you'd need a pretty desperate team to consider him a viable solution to whatever problem they'd have on defense.
- Scabeh

I don’t think it’s a question of being desperate or even seeing him as a solution. There are teams with $ but no prospect of achieving anything in the short term who could buy very low on someone who might bring very little return or who might actually turn into the guy who has shown brief bits of promise. Chicago, SJ seem like possibilities.

Let's split it down the middle:

The Leafs won't get much for him on the trade market, but they could easily find him a new home and rid themselves of the contract. There's plenty of teams who would want to take a chance on a 25 year old, right-shooting defenceman who is only making $3M X 2.
- Atomic Wedgie

And 2.4M was already paid to him in July. So 3.6M for two years of Lilly. We'll see but I think some teams will pay for that.

new blog everyone

I don’t think it’s a question of being desperate or even seeing him as a solution. There are teams with $ but no prospect of achieving anything in the short term who could buy very low on someone who might bring very little return or who might actually turn into the guy who has shown brief bits of promise. Chicago, SJ seem like possibilities.
- Canada Cup

If there's one commodity that maintains value in this league its blueliners. Yes, his $3M limits the teams that could fit him in but from a talent perspective he slides into a few 4/5 spots easily.

Most teams are 2-3 deep on blueliners they trust then it's a wildcard beyond that. The stanley cup favourite Oilers are running a blue line with guys named Emberson, Kulak and Dermott. If they could afford Lilly they'd be interested.

Let's split it down the middle:

The Leafs won't get much for him on the trade market, but they could easily find him a new home and rid themselves of the contract. There's plenty of teams who would want to take a chance on a 25 year old, right-shooting defenceman who is only making $3M X 2.
- Atomic Wedgie

Agreed.

On the other hand, if the Leafs could keep him, we've seen how many D-men a team needs to go through a season. It feels like you can never have too many NHL Dmen.