Blue And White Beat: Suitors undeterred by Kaberle’s post-Olympic slump
June 6, 2010 by RobDM
Filed under Blogs, Blue And White Beat
Suitors undeterred by Kaberle’s post-Olympic slump
It’s a rare occurrence for NHL teams to engage in a bidding war for an offensive defenceman that scored just once in the final two months of the season.
But when the trade window for Leafs veteran blueliner Tomas Kaberle opens on June 25, the first day of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, general manager Brian Burke is expected to be working double overtime listening to offers.
“Based on the interest already, I’d say there is significant interest in Tomas Kaberle,” Burke told the media earlier this week. As many as six teams have reportedly expressed interest in the Leafs’ power-play quarterback, with two clubs said to have made ‘significant’ offers.
The buzz surrounding Kaberle indicates that general managers have all but ignored the 32-year-old’s struggles that were evident following the Czech defenceman’s appearance at the Olympic Games where he collected a goal and two assists in 5 games playing for his native country.
Kaberle had just a single tally after the Games in Vancouver and actually wound up with only one goal and 4 assists in 24 games after February 5. The horrific slump came after he posted a respectable 44 points in 58 games to begin the season.
In mid-March Kaberle admitted that the grind of the compressed schedule of Olympic and NHL games had taken a noticeable toll. Frustrated onlookers at Air Canada Centre ran out of patience waiting for the supposed chemistry between Kaberle and Dion Phaneuf – acquired on January 31 – to materialize on the power-play.
Nevertheless, despite the offensive drought, Kaberle still finished the season with the eighth-best point total (49) out of all NHL defencemen, while ending up tied for 13th place among all skaters with 22 power-play assists – which was no small accomplishment playing on the worst power-play team in the league.
Kaberle’s contract appears very lucrative price to potential suitors, with one year remaining on a deal priced at a reasonable $4.25 million.
The classy veteran of 11 NHL seasons who has played each of his 820 career regular season games in a Leafs uniform has been involved in numerous trade proposals throughout his tenure in Toronto, many of which have included stars such as Eric Lindros, Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger.
Should a deal eventually come to fruition between draft day and August 15 – the day before his no-trade clause comes back into effect – it’s not unrealistic to expect Kaberle to regain his scoring touch.
Former Leafs like Alex Steen and Lee Stempniak appeared to benefit from a change of scenery.
Perhaps it’s what Kaberle needs as well.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob
