NHL Trade Rumors: Carolina Hurricanes likely to move John-Michael Liles by trade deadline
The Carolina Hurricanes are likely to trade defenseman John-Michael Liles by the NHL trade deadline
The Carolina Hurricanes entered the month of February needing to decide if they were going to be buyers or sellers at the NHL trade deadline. After trading captain Eric Staal and forward Kris Versteeg on Sunday Feb. 28, they confirmed that they will be sellers. Their next logical move is to trade the rest of their players who will be free agents after this season. One of those free agents to be is defenseman John-Michael Liles.
He’s likely to be moved today.
John-Michael Liles likely to move today, pending UFA in a weak rental D-men market... Cap hit is $3.875 M and 'Canes can't retain salary
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 29, 2016
It’s important that the Hurricanes can’t retain any salary on him because that limits the number of teams who could be interested in him. Carolina could just take on a roster player for him, but it certainly limits the number of teams that will be interested in him. The Chicago Blackhawks could use someone like him but they likely don’t have the cap space necessary to pull it off without moving someone.
John-Michael Liles has six goals and 15 points in 64 games this season. He doesn’t create much offense when he’s on the ice anymore, but he is still a very capable stay at home defenseman as he’s quietly one of the better shot suppressors in the league. Liles has also proven that he can handle top pairing minutes and perhaps on a different team, his lack of offense would be more justified.