Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles has cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Cheap England Soccer Jerseys . The 32-year-old was placed on waivers by the Leafs on Sunday and cleared Monday. He has three years remaining on a four-year deal worth a $3.875-million average annual value. Liles demotion clears $925,000 off the Leafs salary cap obligations. An Indianapolis native, Liles scored two goals and nine assists in 32 games with the Leafs in 2012-13. In 621 career NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche, Liles has 77 goals and 236 assists. Liles scored a goal and added a primary assist against the Detroit Red Wings in the Leafs final exhibition game on Saturday night. In addition to Liles, the Leafs have also assigned forwards Trevor Smith and Troy Bodie, defenceman T.J. Brennan and Korbinian Holzer and goaltender Drew MacIntyre to the Marlies after they cleared waivers on Monday. They also sent Jamie Devane, Jerry DAmigo, Andrew MacWilliam, Josh Leivo, Spencer Abbott, David Broll, Stuart Percy and Greg McKegg to the Marlies, leaving 22 players on the roster. The deadline to set NHL rosters is 5 pm et Monday with all teams needing to get their payrolls under the $64.3-million salary cap. For the Leafs, their total cap obligations must be below that number including the currently-suspended David Clarkson and Frazer McLaren – who is currently nursing a broken finger. A corresponding move is expected once rosters are finalized with McLaren expected to be placed on the long-term injured reserve. Once that move is made the Leafs will be left with only 11 active forwards on their roster and will need to recall a player from the Marlie prior to the Leafs season opener in Montreal on Tuesday night. Cheap Los Angeles Dodgers Jerseys . Collazo was proven correct as his final punch knocked out Victor Ortiz at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight fight at the Barclays Center on Thursday night. cheap nfl jerseys . The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled to arrive in Boston in time for a workout on Tuesday afternoon. Much of Mondays discussion focused on Bostons lineup considerations as the series progresses, specifically when the venue shifts to St.TORONTO, Ontario - Moments after Canada narrowly edged Latvia 2-1 to book their ticket to face the United States in the semifinals of the Olympic mens hockey tournament, Jonathan Toews was asked about going head to head against his Chicago Blackhawks teammate Patrick Kane. “Hes alright,” laughed Toews, “but that Kessel guy is even better.” Whether Toews was sharing his true belief or not is beside the point. The fact that the captain of two different Stanley Cup champions would even think to make that comparison shows that Kessel is being thought of among the games elite, not just by pundits but, more importantly, by his peers. And rightly so. Finishing up with points in thirteen of his final 15 games before the Olympic break (11-16-27) to put himself fourth overall in NHL scoring with 65 points – second overall in goals with 31 behind only Alex Ovechkin – Kessel has continued to excel in Sochi, leading the mens tournament in scoring with eight points in four games while sitting tied with Michael Grabner for the lead in goals with five. Let that sink in for a moment. In a tournament involving undisputedly the best players in the world, Phil Kessel has arguably been the top performer. “We all believed that hes able to do it,” said Kessels centre in Toronto, Tyler Bozak. “Who knows what other people think outside of our locker room but we believe in him to be one of the best players in the league and hes proving it yet again.” Now 26 years old and in his eighth NHL season, Kessel is on pace for his best statistical season, poised to set new career highs in goals, assists and points. If he keeps up his pace set through the first 60 games, he could well break the 40-goal plateau and finish just shy of 90 points. To put that in perspective, not since Mats Sundin scored 41 goals in 2001-02 has a Maple Leaf reached 40 goals. The 90-point milestone hasnt been met in Toronto since Sundin did it in 1996-97. Nazem Kadri feels its time for Kessel to be recognized among the NHLs best. “I think he should be, if he wasnt already,” he said after the Maple Leafs reconvened for practice on Wednesday. wholesale nfl jerseys. “I think we all knew that Phil was going to achieve more, especially on that big ice. Not too many players in the league can skate with him. Phil does a great job finding areas to get open; he can find his own teammates and score goals.” The knock against Kessel has long been that he is too one-dimensional of a player but the Madison, Wisconsin native has been aggressively debunking that myth in recent times. An inspired effort during the Leafs seven game playoff series against the Boston Bruins in the spring of 2013 was an eye opener. Hes shown a willingness to stand up for himself, as he has done on two separate occasions against Alex Burrows this season. “I think Phil kind of likes that stuff secretly,” revealed Bozak after Kessels latest altercation with Burrows on Feb. 8. “It kind of fired him up.” Perhaps most impressive though has been Kessels ability not only to score goals but to enhance the play of his teammates, a much more difficult task as a winger than as a centre. Only Patrick Kane (36), Taylor Hall (36) and Kyle Okposo (35) have more assists as wingers this season than Kessels 34. To any longer cast Kessel in the light of solely a one dimensional goal scorer is inaccurate. Hes proven that he is one of the most purely skilled players the Leafs have had in the last thirty years and right now, among the best in the NHL. “Phil has definitely taken strides here and has grown as a player,” explained Coach Randy Carlyle. “Hes not a one dimensional player as people described him previously. Hes a guy that still has some things that wed like him to stop doing but hes become more of a two way player, hes stopped on pucks a lot more, hes been in the shooting lane a lot more. Hes not just a rush player, he can do a lot of different things with the puck and hes provided this hockey club and now the USA team with a lot of different intangibles.” cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
