Caps Need Stable Defense
Tomas Kaberle currently remains a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but with Brian Burke’s hopes of finding a way to regain the draft picks that he lost to the Boston Bruins in the Phil Kessel deal, trading Kaberle may be the only way to do it.
Toronto has opened the season with only 1 out of 12 possible points and as Pierre McGuire opined on Montreal radio earlier in the week, ‘if you lose 10 straight points at any point during the season, you are likely not going to make the playoffs.’
Pardon my paraphrasing, but the reality is that the Leafs are looking at a seriously steep climb if they are going to be in contention come March.
Also consider the fact that if the Leafs keep playing this way then Brian Burke may have very well traded away the 1st overall pick in the 2010 Draft to a hated division rival. For all of the wonder and awe over what Phil Kessel may do for the Leafs over the next 5 years, who’s to say that the deal will have been worth it when the Bruins draft Taylor Hall 1st overall next June?
Leaf Nation would absolutely explode if this turns out to be the case.
Given the risks that Burke has already taken with the Maple Leafs future, perhaps it’s time for the GM extraordinaire to explore the possibilities of regaining some of those picks.
Considering he may have very well given up the 1st overall pick, Burke should fight like hell to get some picks back because the 2010 Draft is going to be a very deep one.
In order to do that though, Burke is going to have to go through with the one move he has put off the most since he arrived in Toronto, trade Tomas Kaberle.
Kaberle, who is 31 years old and has a contract that expires at the end of 2011, is by far the most attractive asset Burke could use to regain that 1st rounder.
Obviously there are many teams that would be interested in the valuable blue-liner with the extremely affordable cap hit of $4.25 mil per season.
But will Burke ever trade him?
Considering how long he has held out on dealing away the Czech defender, it’s only too easy to assume that Burke has driven the trade value through the roof. And that right there may be why all of the rumours of teams pursuing Kaberle have disappeared.
Burke may have jumped the gun on dealing away his uber valuable picks to the Bruins for Kessel, but he has a very good chance of regaining some of those picks by finally dealing away Kaberle.
There are 2 teams which would benefit enormously from acquiring Tomas Kaberle and they both possess the picks Burke would desire as well as the prospects or players that may be necessary to get the deal done.
The Montreal Canadiens are without their number 1 D-man in Andrei Markov for almost the entire year. Without Markov anchoring the Canadiens’ blue-line, there is a very strong chance that this newly remade squad will struggle to find their way into the post-season. There are chemistry issues due to the massive overhaul and without a rock on defense to rely upon, the Habs could end up sinking faster than they can swim.
Dealing Kabs to a divisional rival may sound like insanity, but given the fact that Montreal has goaltending, defensemen, forwards and picks to play with, there is a good chance that Bob Gainey, who has the weight of Montreal’s success sitting heavily on his shoulders, could be swayed into parting with assets that Burke would be interested in.
Of course, having a player like Kaberle stay in the division would mean that he would come back to haunt the Leafs, but considering the fact that Burke ponied up a King’s Ransom for Phil Kessel, what’s to say that he wouldn’t accept one from a division rival for a highly sought-after asset.
Don’t count on the Leafs and Habs talking Turkey just yet, but with Montreal certainly on the prowl for that type of defensemen, Burke may be inclined to take a look at what the Canadiens are willing to offer up in return.
The other team I believe could use the services of Tomas Kaberle are our very own Washington Capitals.
The problem with the Caps defensive group is that there is a lot of potential at the top, but the talent tends to decrease very quickly towards the bottom.
Washington pursued Chris Pronger to the ends of the Earth and wound up finishing 2nd to the Philadelphia Flyers because they were not willing to part with the pieces the Ducks wanted, most notably Semyon Varlamov and John Carlson.
Although Pronger was too expensive for the Caps tastes, perhaps a deal for Kaberle could be reached with the Leafs.
I have previously suggested that Caps GM George McPhee should be more inclined to part with high round picks now that the team has reached the level of contenders. The Capitals future is now and lies in the players currently on the team and the prospects who are currently closing in on being NHL ready. If the Capitals are interested in adding to the team without entirely subtracting from its current lineup, McPhee may be more inclined to part with some picks in the 2010 or 2011 drafts. With so many 1st and 2nd round picks turning out positively for the Caps current lineup, there is no doubt that GMGM will be willing to consider parting with future 1st and 2nd rounders, exactly what Burke should be looking for.
Of course McPhee also holds the rights to a certain centerman who
should hold some trade value…but no one seems to be interested in the services of Michael Nylander.
I firmly believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the one team in the NHL that would immediately benefit from the Swede’s services, but given his cap hit and the risk that comes with trading for him, most teams, including the Leafs, are more likely scared than interested.
Yet, even with the inherent risks of acquiring an expensive contract, doesn’t it seem like the Leafs could use a top line center? With no disrespect to Grabovski, Stajan and Primeau, Michael Nylander would offer the Leafs a better option on their top line as well as adding a veteran element to their forward corps which they currently lack.
With so much money tied up on defense and a need to bolster the teams offense, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to likely be more interested in trading Kaberle sooner than later.
Obviously hanging onto Kaberle until the deadline would ultimately land Burke with the biggest return, but given how desperate the Leafs are for offense, picks and prospects, I would not be surprised if Toronto’s GM decides to look into making a deal sooner than later.
I will be back with a Capitals vs. Sharks preview in the next couple of hours.
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