John-Michael Liles, Compliance Buyout?

[BlueBaron]

That isn't even the worse contract as Connolly making nearly $5 mil to play in the AHL as the leagues highest paid player is still worse than Komisarek.

Liles is lucky that after the bad contract of Armstrong that was already bought out this season, and Komisarek and Connolly contributing even less that his compliance buyout possibility is not at the top of Nonis to do list at present.

Hopefully Nonis can find a way to trade him away as we can replace him internally with Gardner and Morgan Rielly in the future.

Connolly's contract is up this year, why would we buy him out ?

 

[Mess]

When Gunnarsson and eventually Gardiner return to the line-up it will be interesting to see where Liles ends up on the depth chart..

If he becomes a healthy scratch joining Komisarek in the pressbox then his future with the Leafs will be very foretelling, and may not even finish the season with the team.

I certainly wouldn't take Holzer and Frazer out of the lineup and leave them as our 3rd pairing, due to their size, physicality and defensive abilities. That leaves Phaneuf, Gunnarsson, Gardiner and it comes down to Kostka & Franson for that last top 6 spot to battle Liles to avoid being a healthy scratch.

If not traded then a compliance buyout is a greater option to consider to remove him from the roster going forward.

 

[bobbyflex]

send him back to the Avs for a 2nd round pick. They need some PP help

 

[Mess]

send him back to the Avs for a 2nd round pick. They need some PP help

The Avs were lucky they found a sucker willing to part with a 2nd round pick to get rid of him in the first place, and doubt they have any interest in getting him back. They were shopping him a long time with no team willing to part with a 2nd rounder in the past, until of course Leafs couldn't resist in overpaying to bring in his services.

If traded it might be to a Cup contender looking for playoff depth and then that pick would be a later one in any round.

 

[New Liskeard]

The Avs were lucky they found a sucker willing to part with a 2nd round pick to get rid of him in the first place, and doubt they have any interest in getting him back. They were shopping him a long time with no team willing to part with a 2nd rounder in the past, until of course Leafs couldn't resist in overpaying to bring in his services.

If traded it might be to a Cup contender looking for playoff depth and then that pick would be a later one in any round.

Very odd, the majority of Av's fans were very upset he was traded, and only for a 2nd round pick. Take a look at the threads when t he trade was consumated. Many Leafs fans, and even today, are very happy trading a 2nd that has a 25% chance becoming an NHL, in a very serviceable NHLer. You're in the minority here, or are you stiring the pot?

 

[Parkdale]

Very odd, the majority of Av's fans were very upset he was traded, and only for a 2nd round pick. Take a look at the threads when t he trade was consumated. Many Leafs fans, and even today, are very happy trading a 2nd that has a 25% chance becoming an NHL, in a very serviceable NHLer. You're in the minority here, or are you stiring the pot?

Liles cap hit is about a million over an average player's salary in the NHL. He plays top minutes on a winning team. He and his style of play seems ideally suited to mentor Gardiner and Rielly. He is 32 years old and has 3 years left on his contract after this year. He and his contract have trade value. Don't see the problem here.

 

[Mowerman]

Liles is a good player. The Leafs didn't sign him to a longer term deal just to buy him out ASAP.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Without even researching it I can think of more than a dozen Dmen who would be likely to be bought out before Liles.

Did people miss the Wideman, Ehrhoff, Souray, Kaberle, Kuba, Jovanovski, Wisniewski contracts handed out to recent free agent Dmen?

Liles is a # 4 dman whose excellent as a powerplay quarterback. Has a high compete level but also has a few defensive holes. He is paid accordingly and if anything could be paid .5 to a million more.

Quincy got traded for Downie (then again for a 1st rounder last year). There is always a market for dmen who can move the puck who aren't a complete trainwreck in the defensive zone.

 

[Mowerman]

Liles for a second was a pretty fair deal. Not an overpayment and not an underpayment.

It was actually pretty stupid on Colorado's side because that pretty much vaulted them into a "win later" rebuild mindset but considering they moved their first without much of anything on d for Varly not soon after... If you want to talk about the Leafs being frustrating count your blessings

 

[SeenSchenn2]

Liles for a second was a pretty fair deal. Not an overpayment and not an underpayment.

It was actually pretty stupid on Colorado's side because that pretty much vaulted them into a "win later" rebuild mindset but considering they moved their first without much of anything on d for Varly not soon after... If you want to talk about the Leafs being frustrating count your blessings

I love Liles, he envisions everything you want in a Maple Leaf -- and don't think he needs to be bought out.


But it made perfect sense for Colorado, they've got Tyson Barrie/Stefan Elliott/Duncan Siemens on the back-end, so I don't think that's "much of anything".

 

[AuGsY]

Offensively Liles is miles(yes i know that rhymes) ahead of any other dman on this team. He knows when to pinch, when to jump in the rush, he's got great vision, and if he's healthy he's got the potential for 45+ pts. I'd take him at 4.25 over Phaneuf at 6.5 or heck even 5.5 or 5 anyday.

 

[Mowerman]

I love Liles, he envisions everything you want in a Maple Leaf -- and don't think he needs to be bought out.


But it made perfect sense for Colorado, they've got Tyson Barrie/Stefan Elliott/Duncan Siemens on the back-end, so I don't think that's "much of anything".

Look at their team after they traded Liles and this year. The d situation right now is downright pathetic. They traded away their first and then moved away a significant piece of their d for futures. That wasn't very sensible.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Buyout just stupid.

With Gardiner recovering from a concussion he is the perfect fill in.He will easily land a 2nd rounder at trade deadline. Teams are screaming for dmen right now and we have them all.Would I trade Liles to the Avs. right now for a second rounder? No,not until Gardiner regains his form,whenever that might be.

 

[rdawg1234]

Offensively Liles is miles(yes i know that rhymes) ahead of any other dman on this team. He knows when to pinch, when to jump in the rush, he's got great vision, and if he's healthy he's got the potential for 45+ pts. I'd take him at 4.25 over Phaneuf at 6.5 or heck even 5.5 or 5 anyday.

he makes 3.87 now, took almost a 400k to stay with us.

Not sure why people dont understand that as well, they act like his contract is bad but he even took a discount with his newest contract!

 

[Badger Mayhew*]

Liles hate continues to baffle me. He's been arguably our best d-man the past 5 games.

 

[Whydidijoin*]

They were shopping him a long time with no team willing to part with a 2nd rounder in the past, until of course Leafs couldn't resist in overpaying to bring in his services.

Show us some proof, or stop spouting lies.

 

[SexyJoffreyLupul]

Liles hate continues to baffle me. He's been arguably our best d-man the past 5 games.

i can't see how anyone can say that liles has been playing better than Phaneuf the past 5 games

 

[Atwell 08]

When was a $4,250,000 a year cap hit a discount contract?

What the hell is Liles good at anyway? He guy doesn't even bring up the puck or distribute it as well as Tomas Kaberle on the PP.

Are you new? Kaberle is **** and even when he was on our team he NEVER SHOT THE PUCK. People act like a compliance buyout is the easiest thing for a gm to do. No gm wants to do this unless they absolutely have to and shouldnt be used unless (god forbid) we end up with a contract like gomez or redden one. We can use liles by either keeping him in our lineup or TRADING HIM.

 

[Rockinz]

this is one of the dumbest threads out there...

just ask yourself: why would we buy him out when we could trade him for a pick?

If we wanted to get rid of him....

 

[Call of the loonie]

Liles will show his value in the second half of this season then you will all be humping his leg.

 

[SeenSchenn2]

Liles will show his value in the second half of this season then you will all be humping his leg.

This.

 

[Beaninfritz]

Liles will show his value in the second half of this season then you will all be humping his leg.

I second this.

I honestly think he's getting paid what he's worth. If his play does improve, he's a steal. It's honestly insane how some people think he's the next Jeff Finger.

IMO, he needs to be quarterbacking the PP far more than someone like Phaneuf. So many times I see Phaneuf moving the puck out from behind his net, skating at the speed of molasses. It just kills the power play. They have no momentum going up ice, which usually results in a dump in, that fails, because everyone else had to start from a standstill at the opposing team's blue line. Liles actually has speed, and uses it in those cases. When you exit your zone with speed, you can actually rush the offensive zone instead of relying on dumping it in.

Liles is fine for what he's being paid right now. We do have some overpaid contracts at the moment (Phaneuf and Grabo), but nothing that could be considered a MUST BUY OUT by a long shot.

 

[IWD]

certainly hasn't excelled, misused IMO

Exact same player, in my opinion. He hasn't really changed. A small, borderline second-pairing PP specialist. There's a reason it only took a second-round pick to acquire him.

The spotlight in Toronto, and increased access to internet message boards, has caused plenty of detractors to rail on just about every Leaf player at one time or another. If you look at the percentage of those detractors, relative to the size of our fanbase, I'm sure it's somewhat in-line with the rest of the league. If anything, the aggregation of Leaf fans on a medium such as this brings out disproportionate negativity due to the bandwagon effect that stems from on-line anonymity.

The result, as far as I can tell, is a distorted view of the team. Winning is probably the only thing that will change that, but the behaviour of the fanbase towards our players doesn't bode well for the team as a whole.

 

[leafspring*]

This thread started in day 2 of febuary was premature,but more accurate then than it is today. Liles is starting to get hishead into games,his intensity is getting better,and he is skating better.

He is getting close to game shape mentally/physically now,and is improved.

He will be moved though if there is a taker.If he moves it will be just before Gardiner is called up. I think he will be moved though 4sure,and grabo might be with him!

 

[SprDaVE]

No idea why people think he's a hindrance or he's been bad.

He's a solid top 4 defenseman on a really fair contract. Plus, he's been great in the community and seems like a great locker room presence.

I just wish he'd get more PP time, especially over Kostka. It's mind boggling.