The Sharks trade for Tomas Liljegren and send Matt Benning to the Maple Leafs

The Sharks plan to bring in a former top-20 draft pick for a fresh start.

San Jose acquired defenseman Tomas Liljegren from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in exchange for defenseman Matt Benning and two draft picks.

Liljegren, a 25-year-old Swede, was the No. 17 overall pick in the 2017 draft but has struggled to live up to those expectations under pressure from hockey’s biggest players.

He has 65 career points (14 goals) in 197 games with the Maple Leafs since making his NHL debut in 2019. He played primarily in the NHL for most of the past three seasons, including much of last year as a top-four defenseman, and is a career-plus-38 on the ice. Although he signed a two-year, $6 million contract as a restricted free agent this summer, the Leafs played him in just one of their first 10 games this season under new head coach Craig Berube after expanding their defensive mix in free agency.

The picks going to Toronto along with the 30-year-old Benning as part of the deal are a 2025 third-rounder and a 2026 sixth-rounder. The third-round pick will be the best of the two the Sharks own, either Colorado’s or Edmonton’s . As part of the Tomas Hertl deal, they traded their own third-rounder to Vegas.