EDMONTON — Who doesn’t love a hockey trade?
Some Edmonton Oilers fans are clamoring for a trade to bolster the team’s defense and speed, especially considering the losses of Dylan Holloway, Ryan McLeod, and Philip Broberg.
While those fans continue clanging, other fan bases are treated to early-season deals. First, the Detroit Red Wings did the Utah Hockey Club a favor and sent Olli Maatta to Salt Lake City for a third-rounder.
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But then, the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs struck a deal yesterday.
Timothy Liljegren was sent to California in exchange for a third-round 2025 pick, a sixth-round 2026 pick, and Matt Benning.
TRADE: We’ve traded Timothy Liljegren to San Jose in exchange for a third-round draft pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, San Jose’s own sixth-round selection in 2026, and defenceman Matt Benning pic.twitter.com/ZazfyayMyq
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 30, 2024
This is a huge boost to the Sharks and their defense group, who now have the promising young Liljegren to give Jake Walman, Mario Ferraro, and Cody Ceci a boost.
This will be Benning’s fourth team in the NHL. He started with the Oilers, then went to the Nashville Predators before signing with the Sharks. Given the significant 5-minute drop in ice time this year compared to last, it appears he had fallen out of favor.
Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
Two years ago was a career year for the 30-year-old righty. He scored a career-best 24 points in 77 games for the Sharks. He did that in no small part because of another career high, 19:47 of average ice time per game.
In Edmonton, Benning was a dependable third-pairing defenseman who could be elevated to the second pair. His most common defense partners were Kris Russell, Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, and Darnell Nurse.
Benning’s most productive year with the team came in 2017-18. He averaged 17:17 a night while playing 47.5 percent of his ice time with Klefbom and 18.8 percent with Sekera.
Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
For the rest of the year, whenever he is in the lineup, he will give the Maple Leafs depth on their blueline and strengthen the third pairing.
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