NHL Rumours: August 16th

For those of you not living under a rock, you know Brian Burke was unable to move Tomas Kaberle. The main problems are that other defencemen were available such as Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa.

The Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes made a push last night for Kaberle. Obviously it was not enough, and I never envisioned that the Sabres or Hurricanes would make a reasonable offer (though I did hope it) simply because the needs of both teams are rather similar.

Another issue that occurred is he has one year left on his contract, so the teams did not want to pay too much for that or sign an extension as he is getting old.

One of the main stumbling blocks of the Tampa Bay Lightning offer for Kaberle is that Ryan Malone had an NTC and he needed time to waive it. If he did not have one would the deal have gone through? 

This actually does not create as much of a problem as most people think. Burke had stated all along if he does not get what he wants he is happy to keep Tomas Kaberle. This is not a bluff on Burke's part as he has proven today.

With Kaberle off the market, lots of teams are going after Kevin Bieksa. The Canucks are trying to move him and possibly sign Willie Mitchell. I don't see how they can do both, but I think they should not move Bieksa. To create cap space they should move a forward.

The Derek Joslin and first-round pick were for Kevin Bieksa and not Kaberle. The Sharks were more interested in Bieksa because they annually fleece a team of a star player, but Burke was too smart for that to happen. 

Don't believe my above statement? What did they surrender for Dany Heatley? How about Dan Boyle? And then there was the Joe Thornton trade. Doug Wilson is smart but firing Ron Wilson might come back to bite him in the behind.

Expect a press conference soon that announces Willie Mitchell as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. They needed a shut-down defenceman and hopefully they got him.