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Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren is set to make his season debut for the team in Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins. He skated with Morgan Rielly at practice on Friday.
Liljegren recorded 23 points in 61 games last season with five goals and 18 assists. General manager Kyle Dubas announced on September 21 that the defenceman would be out for six weeks following sports hernia surgery.
“The body feels good, so I’m excited to be back in full training,” Liljegren said.
“It should be fun. I think (Rielly and I) played a couple times (together) last year as well. Obviously (he is) a very good defenseman, so I’m just going to try to support him as much as I can. I was very happy with how my season went last year. I think I took steps throughout the season.”
The Maple Leafs were affected by Liljegren’s absence during the early part of the season, according to Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe.
“I’m just hoping for Liljegren to go out there and be himself,” Keefe said.
“He was in a real nice groove for us through the tail end of the regular season for us last year and had become an important member of our team both at 5-on-5 and penalty kill, so it’s been tough not having him through camp and the early part of the season.”
Meanwhile, the return of defenceman Jake Muzzin to action appears to be off the table. The head/neck injury Muzzin sustained in a collision against the Arizona Coyotes on October 17 has sidelined him for six games. The player was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) earlier last week and his return date has not been determined.
A neck specialist also examined Muzzin last week to determine the severity of the injury, but that only raised further concerns. According to NHL insider Chris Johnston, the team is concerned about his long-term health if he suffers another serious injury.
“Jake Muzzin was in California to see a specialist last week looking at the head and neck area where he has had a number of injuries, and I can tell you there is legitimate concern about what the next hit could look like if he were to return,” Johnston said.
Johnston added that the Leafs have additional cap space to spend on a defenceman if Jake Muzzin cannot make the lineup. Muzzin is currently on LTIR along with teammates Matt Murray, Liljegren, and Jordie Benn. The Maple Leafs, according to CapFriendly, have roughly $12.46 million in relief space to work with. As of now, the team has used $6.75 million out of that total, leaving $5.52 million unspent.
Throughout his four and a half seasons in Toronto, Muzzin has been prone to injuries, never appearing in more than 53 games in a single season. He got two concussions last season, and it was a surprise when he came back for the 2022 playoffs.
In January 2019, the Los Angeles Kings traded Muzzin to the Maple Leafs for the rights to defenceman Sean Durzi, forward Carl Grundstrom, and 2019 first-round pick Tobias Bjornfot.
Muzzin, the fifth-round pick from 2007, has played in 683 NHL games over 12 seasons, splitting time between the Kings and the Maple Leafs. He has scored 69 goals and 294 points in those games. He helped the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2014 when he scored six goals and had 12 points.
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