So far the off-season has been a busy one in terms of the trade market in the NHL and tonight’s opening round of the NHL Entry Draft stayed true to that.
To start things out on Friday, the Colorado Avalanche sent defenseman John-Michale Liles to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Toronto’s second round draft pick in 2012. This pick was acquired by the Maple Leafs when they dealt Tomas Kaberle to the Bruins last year.
Liles (30) has spent his entire 7 year career with the Avalanche. He scored six goals and tallied 40 assists in 76 games.
Liles has one year remaining on his contract at $4.5 million, with a cap hit at $4.2 million.
The San Jose Sharks also performed a facelift to their roster when they traded newly signed Devin Setoguchi (3 years at $9 million dollars) their 2010 first-round pick Charlie Coyle and this years first-round pick (No. 28) to the Wild for defenseman Brent Burns and a second-round pick next year.
The Sharks were looking for a top flight defenseman and they certainly got in Brent Burns. The 26-year-old Burns had 17 goals and 29 assists last season.
“We are getting a player who is dominant and coming into his own,” said San Jose GM Doug Wilson. “We think Brent will play even better with our players.”
Finally, late Friday night the Chicago Blackhawks swung a deal that sent defenseman Brian Campbell to the Florida Panthers for forward Rostislav Olesz.
This was certainly a salary dump for the Blackhawks as Campbell had five years left in his current contract at $7.1 million per year. Campbell (32) had 27 points and was a plus-28 last year for Chicago. The former sixth-round draft pick has 312 points in 11 seasons in the league.
Olesz (25) scored six goals and 17 points in 41 games for the Panthers last season. However the former first round pick did miss a number of games because of injury. This includes a 17-game stint on the injured list with a broken finger, and the final 21 games of the season with a knee injury.
Source: NHL.com, TSN.ca, Canadian Press
