#10 Timothy Liljegren is a Swedish offensive defenseman who played both in the SHL for Rogle and Rogle’s junior affiliate in the 2016-17 season. Liljegren appeared in the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Tournament, recording 4 points in 5 games and the 2017 World U18 Championships posting 2 assists in 7 tournament games.
Liljegren’s physical skills are impressive. He has an explosive stride, and generates speed out of his turns because of his strong cross-overs. His edgework is exceptional and he can turn tight and quick, with his head and upper body leading his body. He makes transitioning and changing directions look extremely easy. When skating backwards, he generates easy power through cross-overs and this makes for terrific recovery ability when faced with outside speed.
His stride is very effective when carrying the puck. He is strong on his skates and takes very few strides to get up the ice. Although he is only listed at 6’0” he looks and plays bigger. On his rushes, he gets by because of his powerful legs and long reach. He has nice hands, and is tough to defend one-on-one. He can deke defenseman with a quick move at speed and drive them wide, proving to be dangerous in open space. Once in this space, he is effective, but often he tries too hard as an individual to create these rushes. His ability to determine whether or not to rush the puck needs to be refined.
Timothy can score from anywhere in the offensive end, via a one-timer or flat footed wrist shot. His shot is extremely hard and makes every shot a tough save. He has the ability to pick corners because his head is constantly up and looking at the net while shooting the puck. He also has shown scoring instincts around the net, and is dangerous when he is in close quarters. His ability to glide on his inside and outside edges give him extra time when in close with the goaltender. This skating skill gives him the opportunity to be patient when gliding wide around defenseman or goaltenders as he does not have to settle for a bad angle shot.
Although Liljegren has solid offensive skills, his defensive and neutral zone play needs work. It appears when under pressure, especially in defensive corners, he does not know when to move the puck. He can lack urgency in his game and he can hold onto the puck for far too long. It is not often that you see him make a simple breakout pass or a chip off the glass when he has no open passing lanes. He extends plays in attempt to manufacture a stretch pass or deke a defender. There are times when he does succeed and he ends up sending a teammate on a breakaway or going on a rush, but each successful play comes with a fair share of turnovers. He possesses the vision and skating ability to be a consistent puck moving defenseman, but he did not show enough confidence in his teammates, especially in international play.
Despite showing some defensive zone weaknesses, Liljegren did show the ability to identify open teammates and could be a playmaker when he wanted to. He is comfortable at his own blueline on regroups, when his team is transitioning back up ice. He can see the ice well from this position and use his explosive feet to buy him time. When Liljegren is in the offensive end or on the powerplay, he can make plays and is less likely to play selfish. Most of his turnovers result from trying to skate pucks out of the defensive zone.
Timothy Liljegren is a talented offensive prospect. That talent alone warrants a selection an early first round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Quotable: “Played his best hockey towards the end of his season which is better than the opposite. He’s a guy I had a lot of conversations with NHL Scouts about this year. I probably had more scouts talk to me regarding him and his ranking than any other player in the draft. I’ll be interested to see where lands on draft day” - HP Scout, Mark Edwards
Quotable: “There are some difficult evaluations this year.Two high end guys in Liljegren and Kostin that have both missed a ton of hockey.- NHL Scout (April 2017)
Quotable:”He needs a lot of coaching defensively...” - NHL Scout (April 2017)
Quotable:” Brannstrom is a skater.....end to end guy...tries to do everything by himself..kinda like Makar. Liljegren wants to draw guys to him or have guys cutting back door...he finds guys.” - NHL Scout (April 2017)
Quotable: “One thing that was a big factor for me and it was for both Liljegren and Brannstrom....that was one of the worst Swede forward groups I’ve ever seen so they would make plays and they would die after the puck left their sticks. You could see what they were thinking but it would bounce of the forwards stick or whatever..It was a big factor...” - NHL Scout (April 2017)
Quotable: “He’s an enigma. Skilled...very skilled. Probably too much hype on him coming into the year.” - NHL Scout (May 2017)
Quotable: “He’s a very skilled excellent skating defensman.” NHL Scout (May 2017)
Quotable: “He’s a skilled guy...that disease knocks the crap out of ya. It certainly knocked the crap out of him.It takes a while to recover.” - NHL Scout (May 2017)
Quotable:” He’s an offensive guy and he was much better in April.”(at the U18 in Slovakia) - NHL Scout (May 2017)
