Quoting: palhal
I'll disagree with the young Dman theory. Rosen, Borgman and Ozhignkov all played in the SHL and KHL. By next year Liljegren will have played a year in the SHL and two years in the AHL. They are experienced pros not just youngsters coming out of junior. Now you may want to question if they they NHL good this year or next year, but please don't use the red herring "young" In a cap league, all teams need young players, cheaper players to replace overpriced UFAs or retired players. So the Leafs don't see to any different than most other teams.
But most teams have a couple of inexperienced forwards with more experienced players who can help guide them as they develop their talents. The Leafs, on the other hand, will have no room to re-sign Gardiner, Hainsey, and have already lost Polak. They are relying on people like Liljegren, Rosen, Borgman, and Ozhiganov to play without another linemate whose done this before. I'm not saying it can't be done, but to suggest that it's not a risk is purely bias. None of those people have ever held a permanent role in the NHL, and talent in the AHL (or any other league) does not
always translate to talent in the NHL, with much more pressure and much better opponents. Look at what happened wit Shipachyov, a KHL star - he scored one goal, but ended up going back to Russia after refusing to play in the minor league because the Golden Knights didn't think he was good enough to even be on their roster. I honestly think the Leafs would be better off if they sacrifice some of their offensive talent for a couple of defensemen who they know can defend, just in case some of the prospects don't pan out or need guidance (especially if you plan on pairing Reily and Zaitsev).
I would also be concerned about how offense-oriented some of those prospects are. The Lightning have been criticized for picking Foote over Liljegren, but the Lightning and the Leafs have been similar recently in terms of being an offensive powerhouse with defensive concerns. Foote is a defensive-defenseman, whereas Liljegren is mostly an offensive talent. Liljegren is probably "better" than Foote, but Foote would more than likely fit better on any team. And I think the Leafs' prospects is more skewed towards the Liljegren type than the Foote type - talented, but not
defensively talented. And unfortunately, that's the same category Reily falls into. The Leafs are asking these people to really build up their defensive game and step a completely new role with very little help (as in nobody to cover for their mistakes, otherwise they'll hardly be Cup contenders and will more than likely need to move one of their best forwards to do something about it. I don't think any team has ever won the Cup without a single experienced defenseman.