princedpw said:
I thought that when he was drafted, Liljegren's prime attribute was his skating. Am I just misremembering? Did his draft year injury (was it a knee?) knock his skating way back from what it was? How is it that he is now a poor "north-south" skater?
Liljegren's draft profiles are all over the internet.
https://canucksarmy.com/2017/06/14/nation-network-2017-prospect-profile-6-timothy-liljegren/
His follow up scouting reports show the progress:
MLHS 2018
PPP 2019 T25U25
His prime attribute was his dynamic offensive creativity and skating agility (note: not raw north/south speed). His draft drop came as a result of missing significant time (and World Juniors) due to mono in addition to question marks about his defense and the usually extra scrutiny that comes with being top ranked where people just start focusing on flaws.
How he has changed since his draft in 2017 is: his poise with the puck on offense has translated to poise off the puck, making defensive reads to stop plays generally outside the zone. He is pretty firm along the boards as well, which will continue to improve as he builds strength, and there is no defensive panic to his game.
