Former Leafs Player's Surprise Healthy Scratch Sparks Controversy
Hockey fans were surprised as former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren, who was traded earlier this season to the San Jose Sharks, was scratched.
Liljegren was scratched for San Jose's game against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday, exiting the lineup for youngster Henry Thrun.
Some Leafs fans quickly found reason to lay blame on Liljegren's talent on Kyle Dubas, mocking the former Toronto GM and his data-oriented style given Liljegren's boot from the lineup.
Although blaming Dubas is a popular pastime among some Leafs fans still, especially the anti-analytics crowd, Liljegren being scratched doesn't tell the full story.
Timothy Liljegren Scratching Not The End Of His Chances
First and foremost, it's worth noting that while some Leafs fans think that Liljegren has been a failure, Sharks fans on the other hand don't view Liljegren as the team's worst defensemen.
He was acquired a few weeks into the season for a package including defenseman Matt Benning and two draft picks; the main cause for sending LIljegren and his $3M to California.
Many San Jose fans brought up criticisms towards defenders Mario Ferraro, Jan Rutta and former Leaf Cody Ceci.
For what it's worth, Rutta had a strong performance against Colorado, with data showing him as the Sharks top player in the game.
Points wise, none of the four aforementioned names have been lighting the scoresheet up.Liljegren has just six points in 22 games, but stronger than Rutta and Ferraro with four and six points respectively in 35 games, and Ceci with nine.
None of these players have been much more from just bottom-liners to replacement level, but overall all four haven't been anything dominant.
It's worth noting that the criticism over Dubas largely boils down to nothing but animosity over the growth of analytics and data used in hockey front offices, which is rapidly taking over the eye test.
Some Leafs fans, especially those dedicated to the eye test, took aim at the analytically savvy Dubas, him being a young guy who didn't play professionally further added to the resentment.
In 2024, parts of the Toronto fanbase still resent the Dubas era, the team's most successful post original-six era, but in San Jose, fans seem less negative towards Liljegren, and trust the stats on him and where the real problems lie.
Perhaps the benching is nothing more than testing out what works and what doesn't.
Noticeably, Liljegren is already back for the Sharks, practicing on the second pairing with Ferraro.
The Sharks have the worst goal differential in the NHL (-30), and second worst in goals allowed (126), so it's not a major shock the defense is being experimented on even a third of the way through the season.
Liljegren from Sharks looks like someone less an undeserving talent and more a casualty of the team struggling to find a winning lineup and tinkering with it's options.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 21 | 1230 ANSWERS Former Leafs Player's Surprise Healthy Scratch Sparks Controversy Did Kyle Dubas make the Toronto Maple Leafs better or worse? | ||
| Better | 249 | 20.2 % |
| Worse | 722 | 58.7 % |
| Same as before | 259 | 21.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
