Liles Dealt to Toronto

			2010-2011 NHL Statistics				July 1st Status
To Toronto	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
John-Michael Liles	D	30	76	6	40	46	1	$4.2 million
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To Colorado	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
2012 2nd Round Draft Pick

The Maple Leafs are continuing to put the pieces together on draft day and the draft hasn't even started yet.  The Leafs acquired defenseman John-Michael Liles from the Avalanche on Friday for a 2nd round pick in next year's draft, giving Toronto another puck moving defenseman to boast about in the Eastern Conference picture.

In Liles, the Maple Leafs get a quality offensive defenseman, who has put up some good points in the past few seasons.  The Leafs have been building their blueline with a certain flair and now they may have picked up that offensive-only piece that would fill the gap that was left behind by Tomas Kaberle.

With this deal done, the Leafs do have a pretty full picture on the defense, now sitting with six regulars already signed on and ready to go, not to mention their goaltending, so the main concern for the 2012 season may just be up front.

The Avalanche have been cleaning house a bit, especially with the big blockbuster at the trade deadline, which suggests a bit of a rebuild.  Liles moving away for a pick gives the team a little bit more cap flexibility, but I would think that they have something or someone waiting in the wings to take that spot or else they are not in a big hurry to win this coming season.  We have to play wait-and-see with these Avalanche at the moment.

With Liles in tow, the Leafs now have a projected cap number of $44.2 million for the 2012 season, that includes eight forwards, six defense, two goalies and a buyout on their books, giving the team all kinds of space to make more dealings in the coming weeks.

The Avalanche, on the other side, are still dumping salary and their totals have now dropped down to $27.3 million for nine forwards, three defense and a buyout, dropping them also into the budget team bracket for the 2012 season.  Looking at this cap number, you would almost suspect that there is something financially unstable about the Avalanche or else they have some sort of buying scheme that will get them close to the ceiling again.