Kaberle on the Move

All signs are pointing to Tomas Kaberle becoming a Boston Bruin today.

This could change, either in a league trade call that has yet to take place between the Leafs and Bruins, or if the teams miscommunicate in the way they did back in June, 2009 when a deal involving Kaberle for Phil Kessel literally fell apart on the draft floor because Brian Burke and Peter Chiarelli believed they were talking about different deals.

Or, of course, the B's might feel better about their prospects after pounding the Islanders last night.

But right now, it's believed the Leafs would get Boston's first round pick this June  (not the second of two first rounders sent to the Bruins in the Kessel deal) and a prospect. Winger Blake Wheeler is apparently not in play, but the Leafs might be zeroing in on one of two good Boston prospects, Ontario junior Ryan Spooner or Providence centre Joe Colborne.

For Leaf fans, Colborne might be the prospect they'd be happiest with, given that he's 6-foot-5 and was Boston's first rounder back in 2008. Spooner has been a more prolific offensive player, particularly this year with Doug Gilmour's Kingston Frontenacs, but he's not as big as Colborne.

If this deal comes together, and again, all bets are off until Burke and Chiarelli actually agree on what they're trading, it's likely to happen early this afternoon. Back in '09, the two men believed they had agreed on a Kaberle-Kessel deal, but it fell apart at the very last second when Chiarelli believed he was getting the seventh pick overall, which the Leafs used to pick Nazem Kadri, as part of the package.

If the Leafs can make this deal work, they theoretically might be able to put together two first round picks - they got Philly's in the Kris Versteeg trade - and move up much higher in the June draft. Otherwise, they would have picked up defence prospect Jake Gardiner, two firsts and another good prospect from Boston in the past two weeks.

On the goalie front, Ben Scrivens is expected to start for the Marlies tonight, and then back up James Reimer when the Leafs play Ottawa tomorrow night.  

 

Comments

[Joe Scott]

So many things to say....
Firstly, he's been trying to trade Kaberle since he got here because he's trying to get younger, and being able to pull a first rounder and a prospect out of Boston for him is a great deal for a player beginning to enter the twilight of his career.
As for replacing TK's minutes, you're going to see more of Aulie and probably Gunnarson as well. It's not as if TK was a 30 minute a game guy, and I say bring on more of Aulie and Schenn.
As for the offense, they have picked up a guy in a trade last week that they feel can replace TK's offensive skills. Let's face it, the offense isn't being helped by the Defense all that much, and the PP is among the league's worst, so if they're this bad with TK, it's not going to make much of a difference.
And lastly, I doubt he's keeping either first rounder. They're going to be used as bait to possibly pry Penner out of Edmonton, and seeing as this is a weak draft, the picks in the upper 20s won't be missed by a team trying for a fast turnaround.
Oh and, JR, if getting a number one center is so easy, why don't you name one that's (a: young enough to be part of the future, (b: affordable in the cap era, and (c: is actually made available by the teams that own him.
If you're just going to randomly flame a GM in a post without actually doing your homework, you should go to Youtube comments and bash Justin Bieber or something. We'd like to have intelligent comments here, thank you very much.

[Greg E]

As much as I dislike the Leafs, I think this is a pretty good move for their organization and more than I would have expected to get for Kaberle. Now all they need to do is get rid of the other two stiffs in Phaneuf and Komi on defense and get some support (2 other first liners) for Kessel and they might prove to be a good looking team in the future.

[Sharna Sugarman]

Say it's not so!
He is great defencemen and the Leafs need him to make the playoffs!

[Clint Eastwood]

The leafs are a classless organization. A good loyal guy like Kaberle, with a sublime set of skills should have been given an extension. The guy was drafted in 1996, 204th overall, and has played consistently without complaining his whole career.

[mike]

Hey Damien,

Do you think BB would contemplate the idea of flipping the two first round picks he just got (i.e. Versteeg deal and now the Kaberle deal) and trade them to Ottawa for Jason Spezza. The Leafs would then have a centre for Kessel, and the Senators would then have four first round picks in this year's draft accelerating their re-building process, plus they would also get more cap relief by knocking Spezza's contract off the books.

[Luke Driscoll]

I personally don't see this as a good trade for Toronto if we are truly trying to make the playoffs. Kaberle was a top man who cannot be replaced easily and we now don't have a top-line centre for right now either. Maybe Colborne will become a top forward in the NHL one day....

[Luke Joseph]

You Burke Bashers don't get it. There is NOTHING preventing Burke from signing Kaberle to a long-term contract this summer. Nothing! He got a first round pick for a guy who has 25 games plus playoffs left on his contract! There is no downside for Toronto here. If they squeak into the playoffs then the value of Boston's other first round pick - the one that came from Toronto in the Kessel deal - the value of that pick will be greatly diminished.

[Gabriel]

Did the trade literally fall apart? Or, were the men literally on the draft floor when the trade metaphorically fell apart?

[Daf]

Well Toronto trades Kaberle and two fhigh first round picks to Boston for Kessel, Colborne, a low first round pick and an iffy conditional second round pick. Right? Who won?

[Luke Joseph]

Wrong Daf - Toronto got TWO low first round picks in the last week. Also Lupul was a first rounded and so was gardiner. They had to give up a guy who didn't want to be here- Versteeg, and good puck handler but soft D man in Kaberle, with only 25 games left on his contract! There is zero downside to Toronto with this move. If Kaberle is so awesome then Toronto has the cap space to re sign him this summer. I don't know how you demand Burke does better than a first round pick for a soft guy with 25 games left in his contract!