Tomas Kaberle is the Leafs Only Asset by Neil Becker

I’m not the kind of person who toots my own horn but back in August I wrote a blog about how it would be a grave mistake for the Toronto Maple Leafs to trade their best player in defenseman Tomas Kaberle. At the time many Leaf fans were voicing their opinions on call in radio shows that Kaberle should be the one dealt for more scoring up front. Personally I couldn’t understand why people wanted this 30 year-old veteran who provides consistency and a huge offensive upside traded. My thinking was that without Kaberle who quarterbacks the power play Toronto has no offensive threat on the blue line. A winning team needs an offensive quarterback if they are to have a potent power play and succeed. After Kaberle the second highest offensive output belongs to Ian White who only has six points. Even though Toronto is badly struggling with only six points in 12 games this year a shinning light has been the play of Kaberle who leads the team and NHL with 17 points. This silent superstar who should be the next Leafs captain was recently named the NHL’s first star of the week after he registered a four point night against the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday night and prior to that a five point game against the Anaheim Ducks. Not only does he score goals but Kaberle has always been a minute muncher on the blue line which again every winning team needs. This season he has once again averaged over 20 minutes per game and against Montreal played a team high 27 minutes and 10 seconds. Looking back to last summer Brian Burke made his best move when he didn’t cave into public pressure by trading his number one asset who has quietly become one of the game’s most underrated players. Again I’m not one to toot my own horn but all I can say is that I’m glad Kaberle is still on the blue and white and can serve as a prefect example to the youngsters in how to succeed in the NHL.