How Marc Savard Improves the Return on Tomas Kaberle

This article was written before Burke officially denied any interest in Savard and thus the chance of a trade actually happening may have decreased.

Trade rumours are heating up again and for Toronto Maple Leafs the offseason excitement continues.  As reported by many sports news outlets, the Boston Bruins may be looking to unload some of their excess depth at Centre and Marc Savard may be a casualty of the salary cap era.  Savard has a no trade clause with the exception of two teams he can name; as of today he seems to have named both Ottawa and Toronto as the teams he would approve a trade to.  Given this limited team choice and the desire to free up cap space, the implication is that the Bruins will not get full value for Savard.  The initial rumour as reported by Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger is that if a deal is reached with Toronto it will not longer involve Kaberle.

Even with this change in the rumours, it seems that Leaf Nation is divided on Savard.  While arguable one of the best playmakers in the league, he is currently starting his first year of a 7-year contract extension that will take him to the ripe age of 39 and has just returned from his 4th concussion.  Regardless of some of the long-term implications of Savard’s contract I would like to make an argument for Savard’s impact on the Leafs outside of his individual contribution to the team, specifically any potential trade for Tomas Kaberle.

While Brian Burke has maintained that the Leafs are not shopping Kaberle, I believe that many will agree that the Leafs are in dire need of another top-6 forward.  Other teams in the league are aware of this and this is likely part of the reason why Burke has been receiving unsatisfactory offers their star defenseman.  A secondary reason is also the fact that Kaberle’s contract is expiring within the year.  In the past Burke has emphasized being patient and waiting until the right deal comes along, and outlasting other GMs.  I believe this year is different given the lack of senior offensive power on the Leafs.  While Savard may not be a typical Burke player, his acquisition for a combination of prospects or secondary players could give Burke the leverage he needs to get a better deal for Kaberle.  With Savard it could be argued that Burke would be more willing to say no to low-ball offers, and this may cause teams desperate for a puck moving defenseman to increase their offers.  This question is now, what can Ottawa offer instead?

Please note the following article is purely speculatory based on current public information and the author’s opinions.