Three Young NHL Defensemen Who Could Be Trade Assets This Summer

The hockey world always seems to get revved up when hyped-up NHL prospects are traded.

In the first part of this two-part series, we examined three high-end young forwards who could be trade options for their team. We’ll now move on to three young defensemen who could be dealt this off-season for the right price. TIMOTHY LILJEGREN, RD, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS The Toronto Maple Leafs roster is bound to undergo renovations, and Timothy Liljegren could become a casualty of that. The 25-year-old smooth-skating defender transports the puck up the ice well and can sprinkle in some offense, having recorded 23 points in 55 games this year. But the Swedish defender is inconsistent, and he doesn’t drive enough offense to compensate for his defensive weaknesses — like losing many 50/50 battles. Liljegren’s physical shortcomings were apparent in the playoffs, where he was made a healthy scratch in Game 4, and his overall ice time was reduced to 17:52 minutes per night, down from 19:39 in the regular season. Liljegren and Joel Edmundson — the Leafs’ third pair — posted a 37.1-percent expected goals-for rate in six playoff games, which ranks 40th out of the 43 defense pairings that played at least 60 minutes this post-season, according to moneypuck.com. By moving Liljegren, Leafs GM Brad Treliving could recoup some of the draft capital he shelled out for Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin at the deadline. And most importantly, they can reshape a blueline that needs a facelift.

JORDAN HARRIS, LD, MONTREAL CANADIENS As this writer reported, the Montreal Canadiens were shopping Jordan Harris ahead of the trade deadline. The Habs have an abundance of young defensemen in their system, including Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux and Harris. They will probably only have three spots up for grabs come training camp. Veterans Mike Matheson and David Savard aren’t going anywhere, while Hutson, Guhle and Xhekaj are virtual locks to start next year with the big club. Something’s got to give. Harris, 23, is a 5-foot-11 two-way defender who skates well, processes the game at a high level and moves the puck well. He isn’t elite in any area, but if he continues treading upward, he could become a decent fourth defenseman. That won’t happen if he’s in and out of the lineup, though. Signed to a $1.4-million cap hit through the end of next season, Harris would be a cost-efficient, low-risk, high-reward pickup for a team looking to shore up their blueline. After 131 NHL games, Montreal’s seen enough to know that Harris probably won’t leapfrog their blue-chip prospects and become a top-four defender. But that doesn’t mean he can’t do so elsewhere.

ADAM BOQVIST, RD, COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS A lot has changed for Adam Boqvist over the last three years. When the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the 2018 eighth-overall selection in the Seth Jones blockbuster, the 23-year-old Swede was one of the best young defensemen in the world. From 2019-20 to 2020-21, Boqvist recorded the fifth-highest points-per-game average (0.38) of any U-21 NHL defensemen who played at least 30 games, according to eliteprospects.com. Since arriving in Columbus, Boqvist has continued producing offense — registering 56 points in 133 games — but he’s struggled to round out his game defensively. The injuries he’s dealt with haven’t helped him elevate his game, either. Newly named GM-hockey ops president Don Waddell has made it clear that he doesn’t think the Blue Jackets are far off from contending, which means Boqvist won’t get all that much leash next year. Besides, the right side of Columbus’ blueline is pretty crowded, with Damon Severson and youngster David Jiricek looking likely to occupy the top two spots and bruiser Erik Gudbranson locking down the third spot. Boqvist has elite ability and can certainly quarterback an NHL power play. But he’s not a polished product, and it’s probably best Columbus cuts bait before they don’t give him enough opportunity to improve. The market for good offensive defensemen isn’t that lucrative these days.