Speculation: If Liles gets dealt..

[indigobuffalo]

Explain.. He can't crack our roster, and he can't go to the minors, what do you want to do with him? Ashton beat him out for a spot on this team

Ashton and Colborne play two different positions.

Not sure how you feel this could be...

 

[Parkdale]

There is a possibility, that they will waive Liles and The Canes will pick him up and because he has a NTC, they may not be on his list of teams to be traded to but if he is claimed by Carolina, he would have to accept or be in Limbo.

I think there is interest in Liles and someone would pick him up on waivers if Leafs wanted to do that. But it would have to be a team with some cap space such as Calgary or the Islanders. The Canes are up against the cap and would have to clear space to take on Liles. That said, there is still a playing role for Liles on the Leafs imo.

 

[DD03]

Ashton and Colborne play two different positions.

Not sure how you feel this could be...

Because we're going into the season with only so many players on our roster? You can't carry every into the season. You need roster spots.

 

[Mowerman]

I don't see why Nonis would be in any hurry to deal Liles. The whole rationale I was hearing about why Liles needed to go had to do with the cap crunch & Franson not being under contract. Nonis took care of that, didn't he?

Part of why Franson negotiations didn't drag on longer was the presence of legitimate nhl players who could step in and fill the hole he leaves in the roster. Liles is one of those players for Toronto. The only reason he wasn't playing regularly on the team last year was because Carlyle for some reason didn't seem to like players who could effectively move the puck. That was a major hole in the Leafs game from what I saw and most of the advanced stats rubbish supports that for what little it is worth.

The fact is right now Liles has very little value due to the current league-wide cap situation, his contract, and how he was utilized poorly by Carlyle last season. If we can keep him around without cap space being a concern, why not? Either he serves as a depth player that can step in and play effectively if a player is injured on the blue line or he goes to the Marlies and plays a mentorship role for a young team that lost a lot of veteran presence. Both of those options seem more favourable than giving up legitimate assets for a team to take an nhl-quality pmd off our hands. Especially if that asset is Colborne. Toronto has pitiful centre depth if someone goes down. No centre in the system is as close to being nhl ready as him with the same potential.

I don't see Nonis moving Liles either (or Colborne for that matter unless there is a legitimate piece coming back). Patience keeps coming up when he is asked about the direction of the team. My expectation is for Nonis to be patient and make a smart decision rather than a rash one.

 

[Budsfan]

I think there is interest in Liles and someone would pick him up on waivers if Leafs wanted to do that. But it would have to be a team with some cap space such as Calgary or the Islanders. The Canes are up against the cap and would have to clear space to take on Liles. That said, there is still a playing role for Liles on the Leafs imo.

They would have to clear space but Liles is being kept out of play, to insure he is not going to sustain an injury and most of the cuts, for all teams, will come just before the Monday deadline to finalize their rosters, so I wouldn't expect anything, until maybe Sunday, or Monday morning.

This is only speculation on my part but he seems to be the ideal fit in Carolina but Calgary too needs Defencemen and they may take a chance on him too.

 

[Budsfan]

I'm not sure what this means...

James Mirtle @mirtle
Carlyle on Liles: "The feelings inside the coaches' and management's office should be left there... We know there's tough decisions coming."

 

[Fogelhund]

What do you guys expect to get in return? What about if he was packaged with Colborne? Remember!

I would expect that we would get Cap Space in return. Even with Colborne, I don't expect much... a 4th... At this point Colborne doesn't really have much value either, though I sure hope that changes.

Maybe a low pick, or a prospect that has some upside, but is disappointing somewhere else.

 

[phg]

I wonder if we could get even a 7th for Liles even at half the salary retained with the cap as it is right now. People just don't have room. And those that do have room, are generally the teams who don't like spending to the cap.

Colborne I'm also not sure if he carries much value. He hasn't had a stellar training camp and teams may look at him possibly showing up on waivers at some point this year.

Packaged together I think we would also need to retain some salary and in return we get a mid-pick + some project prospect.

I would agree. I think the best outcome would be someone picking him up on waivers and I think that's unlikely. Throwing in someone like Colbourne may help but I'm doubtful. Liles has some skill for sure but not for 4 million!

 

[bobbyflex]

I'm not sure what this means...

James Mirtle @mirtle
Carlyle on Liles: "The feelings inside the coaches' and management's office should be left there... We know there's tough decisions coming."

sounds like Liles is joining the Marlies

 

[Parkdale]

I'm not sure what this means...

James Mirtle @mirtle
Carlyle on Liles: "The feelings inside the coaches' and management's office should be left there... We know there's tough decisions coming."

Sound like conflicting points of view on players among coaches and management....what does that remind you of

 

[SprDaVE]

I'm not sure what this means...

James Mirtle @mirtle
Carlyle on Liles: "The feelings inside the coaches' and management's office should be left there... We know there's tough decisions coming."

I'm not sure what it means either but that wasn't a thumbs up for Liles at all.

I like him and I think he's a solid player but his cap needs to be gone. Just doesn't fit anymore.

I do hope a team can use him. He would be a solid upgrade on a lot of teams, but it's hard to fit him under the cap.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Be prepared to not like the deal. It'd be different if he was an expiring contract, but he's not. We really need to hope there's a team is high on Colborne in order to get Liles off us. Yes, I know what he brings to the table and what kind of player he is, but it's a pretty big contract for a guy who is pretty much being traded for not making a team.

What do you guys expect to get in return? What about if he was packaged with Colborne? Remember! One of the reasons these guys are being dealt is because they can't get sent down to the AHL without clearing waivers. So we need players that will be able to avoid waivers all together in order to make this trade make sense, unless obviously its part of a bigger deal.

I'm not sure that the return matters a whole lot unless it ties our hands.

 

[Budsfan]

sounds like Liles is joining the Marlies

There are a lot of possible scenarios that could happen and that's one of them and it happens to be the one I like the least but as I posted before, all should become clear, before teams have to set their rosters

 

[indigobuffalo]

Because we're going into the season with only so many players on our roster? You can't carry every into the season. You need roster spots.

But the decision to keep Colborne still wouldn't be based on Ashton playing well in preseason. Colborne plays C so he would have to be earning a C spot on the roster.

Likewise, Ashton plays wing, and consequently he is competing against different players for that spot. And further, Ashton CAN be moved back to the AHL without going on waivers.

So despite being more deserving of a spot than Colborne, the fact that Colborne cannot be moved down without exposing him to waivers pretty well solves the question of who gets that last spot.

I doubt a rival GM would be dumb enough not to recognize the situation if Nonis starts shopping Colborne+Liles...

 

[Eb]

Sound like conflicting points of view on players among coaches and management....what does that remind you of

Give me a break. You forgot the ''

 

[Patience]

I've seen players look bad or ordinary in the preseason before and play well in the regular season. I've seen players look great in the preseason then lay an egg in the regular season never to be heard from again. Too much stock is being put into this. There are other factors as already mentioned like versatility, waiver exemption, maturity, skillset, injuries, team projection, etc.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

I've seen players look bad or ordinary in the preseason before and play well in the regular season. I've seen players look great in the preseason then lay an egg in the regular season never to be heard from again. Too much stock is being put into this. There are other factors as already mentioned like versatility, waiver exemption, maturity, skillset, injuries, team projection, etc.

Exactly.

If the preseason ever meant anything Brandon Bochenski would have been an annual all-star.

 

[Jumptheshark]

his contract is the problem on what you will get back

 

[Rielly4]

Rielly has earned a 9 game tryout in the bigs. If he sticks then he sticks, if not then he gets to play in the WJC and captain mossejaw. But he has earned the 9 games, the cap money we get from burying Liles is nice, but it would be better if we could trade him, and Colborne looks like a failed prospect who should still have value to a team like Calgary or the Isles who could both use and afford Liles.

 

[HeroNtF]

Someone on calgarys fan960 was talking about some potential flames deals, one was the prospect of liles along with a 2nd or colborne.

Not that it means much, but obviously people see something giving with it and us coming out losers because of it.

 

[Budsfan]

Rielly has earned a 9 game tryout in the bigs. If he sticks then he sticks, if not then he gets to play in the WJC and captain mossejaw. But he has earned the 9 games, the cap money we get from burying Liles is nice, but it would be better if we could trade him, and Colborne looks like a failed prospect who should still have value to a team like Calgary or the Isles who could both use and afford Liles.

I have been asked a question by a relative, about Reilly, he really likes him but he was wondering, if the Leafs are able to give him the 9 games, is there a time limit on how long it takes for him to play those 9 games and if the Leafs can drag it out, until the World juniors, at which time he would play for them and then be sent back to the WHL and frankly I didn't know how that works, he would miss a lot of games for the Leafs but he virtually has nothing to learn in Junior and even practising with the Leafs, would give him more in the long run.

Maybe a CBAer and or a Capologist, could weigh in here, or anyone with an opinion or knowledge, of that scenario has anything on it and does it make sense to try it.

 

[Orfieus]

I dont see how Liles gets traded with him sitting in the press box.

Just say'in.

 

[Puckstuff]

How many times is this going to happen... connolly, Komisarek... now Liles... the worst part about this is Liles is actually a good player. I said from the beginning they should have just out right bought out Komisarek and taken the penalty on the cap... He only has 1 year left at 3.5 so the penalty wouldn't be huge... then we could use the compliance buy out on either Liles now or Clarkson in 2-3 years... I feel using a compliance buy out on a guy with only 1 year left is horrible cap management regardless of the situation. If they buy out Liles or send him down they're going to look like such morons

 

[Orfieus]

I think i said in a different thread Nonis has been doing an AMAZING job. However, with that said I believe he made a mistake not buying out Liles. I guess he believed he could trade him, and clearly that is not the case.

What I want to know is with Komi in the AHL again and Liles bought out could we afford everyone we have now?

 

[Ricky Bobby]

How many times is this going to happen... connolly, Komisarek... now Liles... the worst part about this is Liles is actually a good player. I said from the beginning they should have just out right bought out Komisarek and taken the penalty on the cap... He only has 1 year left at 3.5 so the penalty wouldn't be huge... then we could use the compliance buy out on either Liles now or Clarkson in 2-3 years... I feel using a compliance buy out on a guy with only 1 year left is horrible cap management regardless of the situation. If they buy out Liles or send him down they're going to look like such morons

Komi carried a 4.5 cap hit.

Compliance buyout was only allowed this off-season and next off-season to help teams deal implement the new CBA as big contracts couldn't be buried in the minors like they once were without counting against the cap.