Kaberle Stays in Toronto

August 16, 2010 –Adam Steevens

Despite Brian Burke’s best efforts, veteran defenseman Tomas Kaberle has not been dealt, and his NTC kicked in at midnight last evening.

“The NHL club confirmed early Monday that its longest-tenured player is still with the team. The Maple Leafs were listening to offers from other teams for the veteran defenceman before his no-trade clause kicked in at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday morning.
“The hockey club confirms that Tomas Kaberle remains a Leaf,” general manager Brian Burke said in a statement. “While a number of clubs made offers to trade for Tomas, none of them reflected Tomas’s value to our team.

“I understand a period like this is stressful to the player, and we are pleased that there is a resolution, and we can all continue to prepare for the coming season.”
The 32-year-old has spent his entire career with the Maple Leafs and is the only player remaining from the team’s last playoff season in 2004.

The smooth-skating defenceman has appeared in 820 career games for the Maple Leafs—stretching all the way back to when the team still skated at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Selected in the eighth round of the 1996 draft by Toronto, Kaberle appeared in just two American Hockey League games before making the jump to the NHL. He’s represented the Czech Republic in three Olympics—winning bronze in 2006.
He is the franchise’s second-highest scoring defenceman in history. His 482 points (80-402) trail only the 762 registered by Borje Salming.” {TSN.ca}

Kaberle’s $4.25 million a year contract is not totally unmanageable, and while I’m sure Burke got some decent offers, he opted not to pull the trigger on a trade. All things considered, the Leafs really don’t have a terrible blueline. Komisarek, Phanuef, Lebda, and Luke Schen round out an above-average defense, but the Leafs are definitely hurting up front. Even a second or third line forward with some picks might have been an improvement over retaining Kaberle, but at this point, it’s all water under the bridge. Burke saw the offers coming in, and felt like Kaberle was worth much more.