Another 3 Potential Trade Destinations Emerge For Maple Leafs' Timothy Liljegren

He's played just one of the Toronto Maple Leafs' five games thus far, and it's apparent that defenseman Timothy Liljegren is on his last legs as a Leaf. It's only a matter of time before Toronto unloads the right-shot D-man and his $3 million cap hit. But where will he be headed?

We've presented a couple of lists of destinations that make sense as a fit for Liljegren, here, and here.

The latest projections on potential landing spots come to us from David Morassutti of Sportsnet. He added another three teams to those lists that should consider trading for Liljegren.

Utah Hockey Club

This one has emerged as an obvious fit, as the 'HC' have learned over the past week that two of their top blueliners will be out long-term after Sean Durzi's timeline was set at "four to five months" (yikes), and newcomer John Marino, who was injured at the beginning of camp, has had his debut labelled as "months away".

Liljegren, of course, is not on the level of either of those two, but he has been a competent, if unremarkable, blueliner for a few years, with room to grow. Though insider Elliotte Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast Monday morning that Utah will be careful here, not wanting to make a reactive trade that they might regret later.

Chicago Blackhawks

Liljegren would have some friendly faces in the locker room if he landed in Chicago, as his former teammates from Toronto, Tyler Bertuzzi and T.J. Brodie, were added this past offseason.

If the Blackhawks want to give some of their younger d-men more time to develop in the AHL, reasons Morassutti, they could deal some of their treasure trove of draft capital to the Leafs for an established NHL blueliner to add a bit more experience to the rebuilding team.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The only reason Columbus makes this list, per Morassutti, is that they have plenty of cap space ($21 million) and need to add some salary. They do not, however, have the draft picks that could get a deal done.