azzurri63 said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
azzurri63 said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Again, Liljegren & Sandin's hard work erases Liljegren's mistake and the sequence ends with Tavares's great play for the Matthews goal. Is the 37/38 pairing for real? It looks like it at the moment.
Going to be 2 top defensemen down the road and I'm really looking forward to see Topi Niemela. Kid is 2 points out of the scoring lead in the Finnish league as a 19 year old. Can't wait for the world juniors he was the top D last year and looks even better this year. D looks bright with these 3.
I mean, did any of us expect Liljegren to be as solid as he's been? We had glimpses of Sandin's talent, but I never expected Liljegren to look this good.
I had high hopes for him. His stock tumbled his draft year. If I recall he was top 3 and then fell due to his mono that he battled. I said it then it was a good pick because there is obviously something there that the scouts saw. I had hoped he was called up sooner as he had good reviews in the AHL but maybe the time there was for his benefit. The knock on him was at times not making the smart play and costing him with mistakes. I see him getting better and his offensive game is better than what he is given now.
You recall correctly. In fact, I think he was being hyped as the top d-man in that class until his mono knocked him down the list. But I remember he was being pegged as an offensive guy. What has surprised me is how comfortable he's looked defensively, especially under pressure in his own end. Sure he's had a couple of lesser games, but mostly he's been great defensively. Makes the short possession pass that they want their D to make, not panicking and just throwing it out.