Liles Traded for Tim Gleason

The Leafs have traded John-Michael Liles and Dennis Robertson for Tim Gleason, per Bob McKenzie:

TOR prospect going to CAR with J-M Liles for Gleason is defenceman Dennis Robertson, 6th round pick in 2011 draft.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 1, 2014

Neither team, TOR or CAR, is taking back any salary in this trade. Full value of contracts move with both Gleason and Liles.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 1, 2014

The best thing to say about this deal is that Dennis Robertson (#25 in our Top 25 Under 25) isn't a critical prospect for the Maple Leafs. Gleason makes $4M against the cap until 2016 compared to Liles' $3.875 over the same time frame.

Carolina Hurricanes' fan @ShutdownLine is worth a follow if you're looking for someone to keep you updated on Hurricanes stuff. Here's his take:

Gleason was one of my favorite Canes but if anyone thinks he is worth $4 mil. after the last two years then I don't know what to tell you.

— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) January 1, 2014

@mirtle He played through a couple of injuries last year but he looks broken this season. Drowning in 3rd pairing assignments.

— Corey Sznajder (@ShutdownLine) January 1, 2014

The Leafs had a third pairing logjam of Liles, Paul Ranger and Mark Fraser and by all accounts they haven't changed that with this trade.

This is basically a garbage swap where you give away a problem contract for another bad contract and hope the guy you get improves with a change of scenery. Unfortunately Tim Gleason has battled injuries for a number of years and as a guy on the wrong side of 30 it might end up that he's cooked.

The Liles contract was ugly the day he signed it and I'd hardly call Dennis Robertson a prospect. Maybe Gleason finds his game on the third pairing here or if injuries catch up with him maybe he retires (or just gives us LTIR relief).

In terms of a personnel swap this doesn't seem atrocious, but we'll have to see what Randy Carlyle does with Gleason. If Gleason isn't appropriately protected in the lineup this could be ugly.