Disgruntled Leafs Defenseman Believed to Have Submitted an Informal Trade Request

The Toronto Maple Leafs have opened the season with Liljegren on the outside looking in and the former first round pick could be looking for greener pastures, akin to Nick Robertson's trade request over the summer.

The difference between the two is that the Maple Leafs seem more inclined to oblige Liljegren in his desire for a fresh start should he make a formal request while they were more unwilling to grant Robertson his request.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period tweeted earlier today that while it's not completely set in stone, both sides would welcome a change of scenery and it shouldn't be all too surprising considering that the team was dangling him as trade bait this summer.

Elliotte Friedman also touched on the Liljegren news, saying that if both sides come to the same agreement, a trade should not be hard to finalize since he's a right-handed shot and still possesses some skill that earned him a first round selection consideration.

The Maple Leafs have run with Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit, and Conor Timmins to start the season and they still have Jani Hakanpaa expected to make his debut sometime in the near future. Liljegren has become the odd-man out with 7 healthy defensemen and will fall further down the pecking order when Hakanpaa gets cleared to return.

It was reported earlier that Liljegren never truly won Brad Treliving over and it's become a near improbability that he'll ever win Craig Berube over. Add in the fact that Benoit and Timmins have done a relatively solid job on the third pairing to start the season and Liljegren's time in Toronto certainly looks to be fleeting at best.

The 17th overall pick from the 2017 NHL Entry Draft just hasn't lived up to expectations with 14 goals and 65 points in 196 games across 5 seasons. Last year, he posted a career-high 20 assists and 23 points in just 55 games in an average of 19:40 TOI. Another team will surely welcome him with open arms should he make the request official, and the Leafs may very well grant it without issue.