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Sharks Acquire Timothy Liljegren From Maple Leafs

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The San Jose Sharks have acquired defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round and 2026 sixth-round draft pick. Toronto will get the better of the third-round picks that San Jose previously acquired from the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche.

The move ends a tumultuous seven-year run for the 17th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Maple Leafs were patient with the 25-year-old, waiting for him to realize the potential that made him a first-round pick. Unfortunately for Toronto, that untapped potential never translated to results, as Liljegren could not crack Toronto’s top four on defense.

Liljegren was re-signed to a two-year $6MM contract back in late June, but despite the new contract, Liljegren quickly lost the trust of new head coach Craig Berube and general manager Brad Treliving. Liljegren has only dressed in one regular season game thus far and struggled mightily, as the Maple Leafs were out-chanced 21-2 while he was on the ice for 12 minutes of even-strength hockey.

Coming back the other way is 30-year-old depth defenseman Matt Benning. The Edmonton Alberta native is in the third year of a four-year $5MM contract, meaning that Toronto will realize a cap savings of $1.75MM in the transaction for this season and next. Benning is a useful defenseman who is just two years removed from his best offensive season as a pro (one goal and 23 assists in 77 games). While Benning will serve as valuable depth for Toronto, he is unlikely to see the kind of ice time he was seeing in San Jose and will most likely be Toronto’s eighth defenseman.

Injury Notes: Capitals, Hakanpaa, Määttä, Kesselring

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The Washington Capitals will have a mess to sort out on defense with Jakob Chychrun (upper-body) and Alexander Alexeyev (personal) each out day-to-day, per Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network. El-Bashir also shares that Matt Roy, who has been out since October 12th, is nearing a return but likely won’t play on Thursday.

Chychrun suffered his injury after just four shifts in Washington’s Tuesday night win over the New York Rangers. He was seen nursing his left ribs partway through his final shift, though it’s hard to place exactly when he suffered his injury.

Alexeyev and Roy would stand as the de facto options to fill Chychrun’s top-pair role. But with both also potentially missing Thursday night’s game, the Capitals will have to instead turn towards Rasmus Sandin or Martin Fehervary to fill their role of top left-defender. The team could also turn to the minor leagues for a fill-in, where Hardy Haman-Aktell stands as the top left-defense with three assists in six games to start the year.

Other notes from blue-lines around the league:

  • Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa is nearing his debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs after spending the start of the season on IR with a knee injury, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Hakanpaa opened the year on long-term injured reserve, nursing an injury that ended his 2023-24 campaign in March. He proceeded to go through contract cartwheels with Toronto throughout the summer, signing with the team in July but not finalizing the deal until September. He joined Toronto’s practices on October 2nd, and even traveled with the team on their recent two-game road trip – all suggesting a return is imminent. Hakanpaa is awaiting clearance from Toronto’s doctors and activation off of LTIR, but figures to support the team’s defensive depth when he returns.
  • The Utah Hockey Club could plan to ice seven defensemen on Wednesday – per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports – with Michael Kesselring returning from illness (link) and Olli Määttä quickly joining the team after trade (link). Kesselring has so far played in all 10 of Utah’s games, and ranks second on the blue-line in scoring with five points. Meanwhile, Maatta has yet to change his stat line at all this season – recording no scoring, no penalties, and no lasting change in +/- through seven games with the Detroit Red Wings. He was flipped to Utah for a 2025 third-round pick, and offers much-needed depth to a Utah club without both Sean Durzi and John Marino for the long-term. Kesselring should maintain his spot on the team’s top pair, while Maatta will join Vladislav Kolyachonok and Maveric Lamoureux in fighting for depth ice time.

Maple Leafs Activate, Reassign Fraser Minten

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve activated center Fraser Minten from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to AHL Toronto. The 20-year-old cost $77K against the cap while on SOIR, so the move does open up a bit of financial flexibility without affecting the active roster.

Minten missed all of training camp and the first few weeks of the regular season after sustaining a high ankle sprain during a rookie camp game in mid-September. That ended any hopes the 2022 second-round pick had of making the opening night roster, and without a clear fit for him in the NHL now, he’ll head to the minors and log heavy minutes with the Marlies.

One of the organization’s top prospects, Minten didn’t crack The Athletic’s league-wide top-100 list over the summer but is still one of the best up-and-coming forwards within the Toronto pipeline. A strong training camp in 2023 landed him a brief NHL look, playing in four games while averaging 11:26 per contest before the Leafs returned him to juniors. He split last season in the WHL between the Kamloops Blazers and the Saskatoon Blades, totaling 48 points in 43 contests with a +18 rating. He also captained the Canadian squad at the 2024 World Juniors, posting a goal and two assists in five appearances.

He’ll now get to make his AHL debut with the Marlies and will get an extended runway there to acclimate to the professional level. He should be considered an outside candidate at best to get a recall at some point later on in the season.

Maple Leafs Sign Jake McCabe To Five-Year Extension

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9:52 a.m.: The first-year salary of McCabe’s extension will be paid out mostly via signing bonus, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The second, third and fourth years of the deal also include some signing bonus money, while the fifth and final season is paid entirely via base salary. McCabe’s total compensation each year breaks down as follows:

2025-26: $6MM
2026-27: $5.5MM (including deferred money)
2027-28: $5.5MM (including deferred money)
2028-29: $3.6MM
2029-30: $3.6MM

9:02 a.m.: The Maple Leafs have signed defenseman Jake McCabe to a five-year extension, the team announced today. It keeps the blue liner off next summer’s UFA market and makes him cost $4.51MM against the salary cap through the 2029-30 campaign. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the total value of the deal is higher than the cap hit indicates due to deferred money in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 campaigns. McCabe’s agency, Bartlett Hockey, confirms the total value of the contract is $23.5MM, equating to an AAV of $4.7MM.

It’s hardly unexpected news. Friedman reported at the beginning of September that McCabe and the Leafs had begun extension talks, which McCabe confirmed at the beginning of training camp. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos added shortly before the regular season started that the two sides were close to a deal, although the final contract is shorter than the six-year, $30MM pact he predicted.

For the past couple of years, Toronto has benefitted from McCabe’s services at a bargain-bin price. He signed a four-year, $16MM contract ($4MM AAV) with the Blackhawks in free agency in 2021, but with the team squarely in a rebuild, they traded him and depth forward Sam Lafferty to the Leafs before the 2023 trade deadline. Chicago retained half of McCabe’s salary in the deal, meaning he’s cost only $2MM against Toronto’s cap.

Even his full $4MM cap hit would have likely been below market value for McCabe, who’s averaged north of 20 minutes per game in a Maple Leafs sweater. Last season was the 31-year-old’s best, as he posted a career-high 28 points (8 G, 20 A) in 73 games and a +20 rating.

His possession metrics back up those numbers, painting the picture of an extremely valuable two-way, top-four defender. McCabe’s usage trended toward the defensive zone at even strength, but even still, the Leafs controlled 50.6% of shot attempts with him on the ice last season and 51.6% of expected goals. He was also one of their most physically involved players, finishing third on the team in blocks (129) and second in hits (219).

McCabe is off to a similar start this season. He’s averaging 21:09 per game, which is on pace for a career-high while adding three assists and a +6 rating in nine appearances. He has 17 blocks and 19 hits, ranking second on the team in each category, and the Leafs are controlling 55.4% of shot attempts and 54.7% of expected goals at even strength with him on the ice.

He’ll never be a significant factor on the scoresheet, but he’s not an offensive liability. He can be deployed in power-play situations if necessary and is good in transition. Having him under contract through his age-36 season could be dicey, but for now, just north of $4.5MM is an extremely affordable cap hit for what his all-around game provides.

The Maple Leafs now have $66.23MM in cap space tied up in 15 players for next season. Assuming a projected cap increase to $92.5MM, that gives them roughly $26.27MM in space to fill eight roster spots, including new deals for UFA forwards Mitch Marner and John Tavares and RFA Matthew Knies.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pacioretty To Return From Lower-Body Injury

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  • Maple Leafs winger Max Pacioretty will return from his lower-body injury tonight versus Boston, relays TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). The 35-year-old has played in five games so far this season, scoring twice.  Pacioretty is owed a bonus of just over $313K when he reaches the 10-game mark and even with Toronto not playing him full-time, he should be able to hit that over the next few weeks as long as he stays healthy.

Potential Trade Destinations For Timothy Liljegren

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It’s no surprise that defenseman Timothy Liljegren’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs may be coming to an end. The former 17th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft has only suited up in one game for the Maple Leafs up to this point in the regular season and it doesn’t appear that the organization is willing to expand much upon that total.

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Lower-Body Injury For Jarnkrok Believed To Be A Sports Hernia

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  • Maple Leafs winger Calle Jarnkrok’s lower-body injury is believed to be a sports hernia, reports Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. The 33-year-old has filled an important middle-six role for Toronto over the last two years but hasn’t been able to play this season due to the injury.  Jarnkrok is currently on LTIR and while he’s eligible to return in early November, that doesn’t seem likely to happen at this point as he has yet to skate since sustaining the injury.

Maple Leafs Activate Joseph Woll From Injured Reserve

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve activated goaltender Joseph Woll from injured reserve. Netminder Dennis Hildeby was returned to AHL Toronto from his emergency loan in a corresponding transaction to open a roster spot.

There’s a chance Woll will make his season debut and start tonight against his hometown Blues, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. Even if not, he’ll dress as the backup to Anthony Stolarz, who initially signed with Toronto in free agency to be a 1B option behind Woll but has stolen the show thus far with a .938 SV% and 1.83 GAA through five games.

Woll, 26, spent the first couple of weeks of the regular season on the shelf due to what head coach Craig Berube called “lower-body tightness.” He was on Toronto’s opening night roster but landed on IR hours before their season opener against the Canadiens on Oct. 9. The netminder spent over a week off the ice before returning to practice last Friday.

A third-round pick of the Leafs back in 2016, Woll was a full-time NHL option for the first time last season. A high ankle sprain cost him nearly three months in the middle of the season and limited him to 25 appearances in what amounted to a three-goalie rotation with Martin Jones and Ilya Samsonov, neither of whom are still in the organization. He churned out slightly above-average numbers, logging a .907 SV%, 2.94 GAA, and 2.6 GSAA with a 12-11-1 record.

That showing, plus a sublime .964 SV% and 0.86 GAA in nearly 140 minutes of postseason action in Toronto’s first-round loss to the Bruins, earned him a three-year, $11MM contract extension over the summer that goes into effect for the 2025-26 season. This year, he still costs just $766.7K against the salary cap as part of a three-year, $2.3MM deal he signed back in 2022.

Assuming he can stay healthy for the rest of the campaign, he’ll surely eclipse the career-high 23 starts and 25 appearances he set last season. Whether he takes the lion’s share of the starts the rest of the way is another question entirely, given how well Stolarz has started the campaign, but it would be surprising to see the Leafs deviate too far away from a 50/50 split between the pipes the rest of the way.

For the 23-year-old Hildeby, his NHL debut was a mixed showing. The 2022 fourth-round pick had been on emergency call-ups at some points last season but never got into a game. Now the No. 3 option behind Stolarz and Woll after outplaying veteran Matt Murray during training camp, he was called up as soon as Woll landed on IR. He made two starts while backing up Stolarz to begin the season, looking excellent in his debut against the Devils in Toronto’s second game. But after making 21 saves on 23 shots in his debut, the Swede gave up six goals on 38 shots against the Blue Jackets in a 6-2 loss on Tuesday.

Hildeby now returns to the Marlies, where he posted a .913 SV%, 2.41 GAA, 21-11-7 record, and four shutouts in 41 games last season. It was his first in North America after spending his entire development in his native Sweden. The 6’7″, 223-lb netminder earned an All-Star Game nod for those strong numbers.

Max Pacioretty Considered Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury

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Mitch Marner and John Tavares project as the two most high-profile players on the Maple Leafs roster eligible for an extension during the 2024-25 NHL season. The one seemingly closest to the finish line, however, is defenseman Jake McCabe with reports shortly before the season began indicating an extension was close between the two sides.

If McCabe’s camp seeks a salary similar to 5.6% of the salary cap like DeMelo that would put his AAV at around $5.15MM. Since McCabe shares a desire to stay with the Maple Leafs beyond this season Toronto could manage to lower his AAV if they add a fifth year to his contract. It’s still a negotiation requiring fine-tuning with the Maple Leafs having several pending unrestricted and restricted free agents on the roster. It’s likely a situation they’ll want to avoid slow-playing less losing their third-most valuable defenseman.

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Oliver Ekman-Larsson Fined By DOPS

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Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game tonight when the Pens take on the Calgary Flames. Jarry sat out Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets and hasn’t played since he gave up three goals on five shots last Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Penguins are currently carrying three NHL goaltenders on their road trip through Western Canada and have been reportedly trying to get extra work in for Jarry in practice as he tries to steady his game and move on from the struggles that plagued him since late last season.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell isn’t in a hurry to add to his roster via trade despite a rash of injuries (as per James Murphy of Responsible Gambler). The Blue Jackets will be without key contributors Boone Jenner, Erik Gudbranson and Kent Johnson for quite a while, but as Waddell puts it, the team knows where they are at, and they know that acquiring short-term pieces doesn’t make sense at this stage of their rebuild. The Blue Jackets have been turning over their roster for five years now and appear unwilling to rush themselves back into the playoff picture by sacrificing the future. The Blue Jackets have several young players on their NHL roster who have performed well in the early going and have a decent pipeline of prospects on the way to the NHL.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been fined $5000 for running interference on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel in last night’s contest. On the play, Ekman-Larsson was the puck carrier and threw a reverse hit on an unsuspecting Guentzel knocking him to the ice. Guentzel remained down for a brief moment before getting back to his feet. OEL received a minor penalty on the play for interference. The fine is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the money from it will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

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