Preview/Lines #12: Sharks, Warsofsky Excited To See How Liljegren Can Help

The San Jose Sharks are excited for Timothy Liljegren, on and off the ice.

The Sharks acquired defenseman Liljegren from the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday, for Matt Benning, a conditional 2025 third, and a 2026 sixth.

“Puck-moving defenseman that can obviously help on our power play, can move pucks and transition pucks,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said of the 25-year-old right-hander.

“He’s a good two-way guy, good puck-mover, good in the defensive zone. Makes nice plays,” Carl Grundstrom, who played with Liljegren on the Toronto Marlies from 2017 to 2019, said. “I think he’s going to be great for us.”

“He’s a two-way D-man,” good friend Fabian Zetterlund, who played with Liljegren growing up on Swedish national teams, said. “He’s gonna be really good for us.”

Warsofsky added: “He’s got that ability to see the ice really well to make the right reads and execute. He’s got the puck skills to do those things. He can read forechecks really well and help break out pucks and maybe trap a F3 to give us an odd-man situation. His vision and his hockey sense with the puck is probably the biggest thing that will help us.”

Liljegren says he was making dinner when he got the call that he was traded to San Jose.

"I'm excited to be here. It's a young team. Hopefully get to play some more more hockey."

Has played just 1 game this year for the Leafs, has been a healthy scratch after signing a…

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 31, 2024

Off the ice, both Grundstrom and Zetterlund are fans too.

“He’s a really calm, cool guy,” Grundstrom said.

“Really [relaxed] guy. Likes to chill, kind of like me and [Eklund],” Zetterlund said. “He’s a great guy.”

San Jose is definitely going to be a change of pace from Toronto for Liljegren, who arrived in San Jose today and should be available to play on Saturday.

Liljegren, a 2017 first-round pick, was under intense media scrutiny in the “hockey capital of the world”.

“Toronto is a hot market,” Grundstrom said. “I was only there in the minors, so I can’t really say how it is to play for the Leafs, but they love their hockey there. Their fans are intense.”

Grundstrom noted that the AHL’s Marlies had more media attention than the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, where Grundstrom played after his stint in Toronto.

“There was a lot of media, for sure,” he smiled.

Hopefully, the talented Liljegren can blossom away from the spotlight.

San Jose Sharks (2-7-2)

Mackenzie Blackwood will start.

These were morning skate lines:

Eklund-Granlund-Toffoli
Gushchin-Wennberg-Zetterlund
Kunin-W. Smith-Goodrow
Grundstrom-Sturm-Cardwell

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Thompson

Givani Smith and Klim Kostin will be scratched.

Chicago Blackhawks (3-6-1)

Mrazek starts for the Blackhawks tonight against the Sharks. It’s his fifth straight start and ninth out of 11 games this year.

Soderblom is still getting back to 100% after his illness.

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 31, 2024

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks is 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.