Tomas Kaberle is Not Going Anywhere Soon!

There is absolutely no question that Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke made his best off-season move in keeping veteran defenceman Tomas Kaberle. While Burke has gone about making the blue line tougher with the acquisition of players such as Mike Komisarek, Garnet Exelby and Francois Beauchemin the truth is none of them are known for their unique offensive skills of a Kaberle. When Burke traded 40- point defenceman Pavel Kubina earlier this summer it automatically made it all the more important it hold onto Kaberle who had an off year with only 31 points in only 57 games. This 10- year veteran might not be the toughest player but he does have great abilities in carrying the puck, making a great first outlet pass out of the zone and is deadly on the power play. This 31 year-old who still has many quality years remaining has scored an impressive 433 points in only 738 career games. While it’s true that the Leafs need more scoring up front the answer is not to trade Kaberle. If they traded their most senior Leaf then there would be no scoring among the blue liners. I agree with Burke who expressed an opinion that Kaberle will get more room to work and carry the puck this year since he’ll be surrounded by more toughness. “I look forward to seeing what Tomas can do with a little more size and toughness around him when he’s not picking his teeth out of the glass all night,” Burke said. Even though Kaberle was armed with a no-trade clause there was in fact an open window that ended August 15 when the Leafs could have traded the veteran. According to rumors Kaberle came close to landing with the Boston Bruins in a trade that would have seen emerging forward Phil Kessel coming to the Leafs. After that move didn’t come to fruition Burke stated that Kaberle who is a +43 in his career will be in the Leafs opening night lineup. “If I had to handicap this, I’d be shocked if he’s not a Leaf on opening night,” Burke said. After losing offensive defenceman such as Brian McCabe and Kubina over the past couple of years the Leafs need offense on their blue line if they are serious about competing for a playoff spot. That offence is exactly what Kaberle specializes in.