Tomas Kaberle: What Is Kaberle 'Realistically' Worth?

If you clicked on this article with the slightest hope that Tomas Kaberle would fetch Ovechkin for Brian Burke, then it’s about time you opened up NHL 10 and tried to make it happen in the 'Be a GM Mode'. Even a simple computer game based on ‘player ratings’ will tell you that it ain’t happening! Wake up Leafs Nation, not even Brian Burke can pull that off!

Since free-agency opened on July 1, no two other hockey players have been more talked about than Tomas Kaberle and Ilya Kovalchuk. While the latter is not really the focus of this article, the ‘Kovalchuck Saga’ as it has been called, has been a roller-coaster ride over the past month and half. Arbitrator Richard Bloch rendered his decision on Monday, making Kovalchuk a free agent for the second time in as many months. Had Kovalchuk's contract been accepted, Tomas Kaberle would have become the most sought-after commodity in free-agency and the quality of offers increased.

There have been many speculations about the offers for Tomas Kaberle, with various teams. Brian Burke mentioned on Monday that the number of teams interested in Tomas Kaberle has reached the double figures! 

Now before you read on, think about the offers that are already in front of Brian Burke. If they had a proven top line player such as Bobby Ryan or Dustin Brown, then what is Brian Burke waiting for? Why doesn’t he pull the trigger already? The truth is - there aren't any 'good enough' offers on the table yet. 

Brian Burke cancelled a luncheon recently to take care of "hockey business". The key question is, what was so important that Brian Burke himself had to deal with? This may mean that he is getting back to all the teams that previously made offers, and probably trying to negotiate a deal that is currently a bit below acceptable. We won’t know until Brian Burke comes out in a press-conference and announces it, or till it is 12:01 AM on August 16.

The bottom line – if Tomas Kaberle gets traded it won’t be a one-sided trade. General Managers are known to be very cautious while trading during the off-season. Here are the possible returns I see if the Leafs give up Tomas Kaberle only:

• A first round draft pick and a second/third-line forward
• A top-6 potential prospect and a bottom six forward
• A top-6-potential prospect and a first/second round draft pick
• A top-6 forward

Of course, the return could be much higher if the Leafs choose to throw in more players. Don’t think that Burke would hesitate to throw in Luke Schenn if the return is really high.

A lot has been speculated about throwing in Mikhail Grabovski and/or Jeff Finger in the trade for a couple of top-6 forwards. Let me stop you there and ask you, if you were the General Manager of the team giving up the two top-6 forwards, would you make the trade? Would having these two players on your team making it any better? Let’s keep Darryl Sutter off the list of General Manager’s – if the magic 8-ball tells him to, he will trade Jarome Iginla for Colton Orr!

In the end, the ‘appropriate return’ will be what Brian Burke deems it to be. I intended to show you the reality behind trading Tomas Kaberle, I hope I’ve done my job well. Feel free to share what realistic returns (with player names) you think are possible.