Takin' a T/O With BT: Have The Toronto Maple Leafs Grown Krabby With Kabby?

For years the Toronto Maple Leafs have had a stable core of players; a group that the fans knew and loved. No matter what happened they could always depend on Bryan McCabe, Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, or Tomas Kaberle.

As time went by and the lockout came to pass however, each player began to rally a group of detractors around them; usually following a shiny new contract that invited underachievement.

Darcy Tucker, the widely renowned heart and soul of the team, found some goal scoring panache following the lockout with 28 and 24-goal seasons. Tucker signed a contract extension in early 2007 with the Leafs, and just one season of struggle later, he was bought-out after the 2007/08 season, eventually landing with the Colorado Avalanche.

Bryan McCabe had Toronto fans convinced he was more than a glorified powerplay quarterback. After a trade with Chicago, McCabe quickly displayed an offensive proficiency that made other defenders green with envy and a booming slap shot from the point. Although he wasn't the greatest defensive defenseman, he wasn't terrible either.

As the years wore on though, so did the market on McCabe's shoulders. Coming to a head in 2007/08, where the man who had held Toronto hostage with his contract negotiations, in June of 2006 tripped over his own net and then scored on it, effectively making him another sacrificial lamb to the bloodthirsty, and fleeing to Florida (after an unceremonious dispute over the issue with then-GM Cliff Fletcher).

Sundin meanwhile had become the desire of all Leafs' fans affections. He was the Captain, he was the leader, he was everything.

Following a third-straight non-playoff season, the Leafs' commitment was dedicated to rebuilding. If Sundin wanted a part in that he could stay, but he balked—not just at the Leafs' offer, but at everyone other teams (including a lucrative deal from the Vancouver Canucks).

Now the only piece of that Maple Leafs' Lore pie left is Tomas Kaberle.

But with the changes that have continued to come to the Maple Leafs this season, it seems that Kabby, now the longest-tenured Maple Leaf by default, may soon find himself with a pink slip as well.

Kaberle had voiced his opinion early on in the year as to whether or not he would (or wanted) to remain in Toronto after the franchise had undergone wholesale changes.

As the months have elapsed, that nibbling idea at the back of Kabby's mind has developed a little further and his consideration for leaving Toronto for a Cup contender is a little bit stronger.

Over the past few games though, the Leafs' Head Coach Ron Wilson has almost been forcing Kaberle's hand. Kaberle's ice-time has gone back and forth, culminating in a benching for the first period in Phoenix and limited ice-time in Los Angeles and San Jose as well (on top of that, Kaberle also had a -5 rating last week).

Over the past two games, Kaberle's ice-time has gone back up to the 25+ minutes he's been used to, but his responsibilities have still suffered.

Last night Kaberle spent only 46 seconds on the ice shorthanded. To put that in perspective, rookie Jamie Sifers spent 1:55 seconds killing penalties last night.

Combine last night's total with the six seconds Kaberle spent on the ice shorthanded against Washington, the three seconds against the Coyotes, and the 10 seconds against the Philadelphia Flyers (he spent no time on the penalty kill against the Sharks or Kings) and you get 1:05—a full 55 seconds less than his total from his first game of the season against Detroit.

With the fluctuations in his ice-time, Kaberle's offensive game has also suffered. While Kaberle has never been known to shoot the puck (which is frustrating given how accurate he can be), he's taken only 37 shots so far this season, and until his four last night, had none in his past three games.

Those 37 however, have Kaberle pegged for his lowest shot total (108) since his shortened 2003/04 season in which he took 88 shots in 72 games. He's also on pace for his lowest goals, assists, and point totals since that same season as well.

The other interesting development in the Kaberle case, is that he's seemingly become the second-coming of Darcy Tucker. The knock against Tucker during his remaining years in Toronto was that he could only score on the powerplay. This season, 12 of Kaberle's 17 points have come on the powerplay.

While that's not the highest that percentage has ever been (76 per cent of his points in 2005/06 came on the powerplay when he was setting up Bryan McCabe), it certainly doesn't help his case as a versatile puck-mover while teams are at even strength—at least in Ron Wilson's eyes.

Sidenote: Interestingly enough, Kaberle's career stats? 418 points, 209 of them on the power play—in other words, exactly half of his career points have come with the extra man.

It'd be nice to say that Tomas Kaberle has the opportunity over the next few weeks to show Brian Burke that he belongs once the NHL roster freeze (and Burke's extra 10-day period) is up, but that's unrealistic.

The fact is, whether this season is a product of Kaberle's unfamiliarity with the system or the new additions to the roster, Kaberle is having a down season by his standard (which are ridiculously high as he's been in the top-ten in defensive scoring four of the past five seasons), and he's the most tradeable player on the Leafs roster.

After this season the 30-year old Kaberle has two years remaining on a contract that pays him $4.25 million, which is pretty decent compared to what some of the other high-scoring defenders are getting.

Kaberle has proven in the past that he can be the perfect compliment to a big shot from the point on a powerplay unit, and the only problem with his shot is that it's mind-numbingly under-used by the Czech.

With his track record, it shouldn't be tough to find Kabby a home. The Anaheim Ducks have a hole on their roster with Francois Beauchemin gone and they only have one defenseman under contract (Chris Pronger) for next season, while the Columbus Blue Jackets (a long shot, but an intriguing option) could definitely use the powerplay help (last in the NHL with a 9.9 percent success rate).

Sidenote: Wouldn't it be interesting if Kaberle, who was supposed to be dealt to Edmonton for Pronger, ended up on the same blueline as him in Anaheim? This scenario makes the most sense to me as Brian Burke knows exactly who he'd want in return from Anaheim, and Kaberle could solidify the Ducks' defense for another cup run.

And if the Ducks get Kaberle (or if they don't) and win the Cup does this mean that Burke built that cup team too?

There are also a handful of other teams who could be playoff bound with a little bit of a boost to the powerplay and their defense who could have some pieces that interest the Leafs.

Wherever he goes though (which thanks to John Ferguson Jr.'s patented no-trade-clause Kabby gets to choose), Kaberle's time in Toronto is coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Whether it's North, East, South, or West, just know this Kabby—no team's fans will ever cheer "shoot" louder than the ones here in Toronto did for you.

Hopefully we've got a few weeks left.

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report. You can get in contact with Bryan through his profile and you can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.