Now that it's a little less chaotic (nothing like a trade breaking three seconds before your radio show goes live), some thoughts on the Tomas Kaberle trade dominos that fell for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Atlanta Thrashers.
Round of applause for Brian Burke for flipping a soon-to-be-free-agent player with a no-movement clause (and a notorious history of wielding it) for what amounts to two first-rounders and a conditional second-round pick (if the Bruins reach to the finals or re-sign Kaberle, it goes to the Leafs). Which, as reader Les Bakker pointed out, sounds oddly familiar to a previous Leafs/Bruins deal. Which, as Peter Chiarelli seemed to indicate in his press conference, may not be a coincidence.
The first gives the Leafs another chip to play; Colborne gives them another prospect at center, which they could certainly use.
Did the Boston Bruins overpay? Yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. First, because these are assets they could afford to move with a logjam at center (Krejci, Bergeron, Seguin eventually, and who the hell knows about Savard) and because they have a first-rounder that's going to be much higher than the one they just traded. (They're not all winners, Burkie.)
Second, because Tomas Kaberle gives them the puck-moving defenseman they've lacked, and he's one of the best in the league. He's also going to elevate a middling power play (18.1 percent conversion rate) to top-10 status. This is a Stanley Cup caliber roster now.
They also made out well in the side deal with the Atlanta Thrashers, acquiring centerman Rich Peverley and defenseman Boris Valabik from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Mark Stuart and center Blake Wheeler. Peverley gives them better offense than Wheeler and is signed for $1.4 million next season. Wheeler makes $2.2 million and goes RFA. There's a headache Peter Chiarelli won't have to worry about.
The Thrashers? Hell, they just traded a popular but ultimately expendable forward and a soon-to-be RFA for a UFA defenseman who can help now and a 24-year-old, versatile forward -- and they both played for Craig Ramsay in the past.
But enough about our take; what are the loyalists for the Leafs, Bruins and Thrashers saying, along with other members of the traditional and alt-media? Coming up, a full Kaberle analysis lineup.
For the Thrashers, here's coach Craig Ramsay's take:
On Blake Wheeler: "Big body with good puck skills. He's able to kill penalties and has become pretty good at that aspect of the game. He should help on the power play as well because of his good offensive skills."
On Mark Stuart: "He's a great competitor and brings grit to the defensive corp. He will also jump up and join rushes. He really wants to be involved offensively, not just be a defenseman."
Puck Sage, a Bruins blogger, thinks the whole thing is a gamble:
So in exchange for four first round level picks today, the toughness and leadership of Stuart, the Bruins get back a puck moving defenseman who's goal scoring has dropped steadily for years in Thomas Kaberle with no guarantee he will be here past July 1st, an undrafted forward that doesn't appear to know anything about the defensive zone, who is yet another center, and a guy who couldn't stay on the Atlanta blueline when they were among the worst defensive teams in the entire NHL. They also got to strengthen a division rival, and remove two top penalty killers.
This is a colossal roll of the dice, in the unlikely-in-the-extreme event I'm wrong, and Chiarelli and Neely are right I'll be overjoyed at the Stanley Cup parade.
Days of Y'Orr offered this take over email:
We're excited about the trades. Was Joe Colbourne, Boston's first and a conditional pick a bit much to give up for a potential Kaberle rental? Perhaps. But the Bruins need to win now, not in 2014. There is no guarantee a prospect or a pick is going to turn into a serviceable, good or great NHL player. Kaberle can help Boston win now, not Joe Colbroune or a pick that is going to be late in the first round anyway. We'll take proven commodities over potential any day of the week. Kaberle fills an obvious void the Bruins had and pairing him with Chara will hopefully take a bit of the offensive burden off of Chara and allow him to just unleash that sweet sweet slapshot more often while teams worry about Kaberle. Potential doesn't win playoff games.
As for Peverley and Valabik, love that as a depth move. We love Mark Stuart here in Boston but he really is not the type of player who isn't replaceable, though his leadership and nasty demeanor around the net will surely be missed. Wheeler is one of those players that had "potential" and is not quite living up to it. Plus the Bruins offsides numbers will instantly improve now that he is in Atlanta.
Barstool Sports had this take on the Thrashers/Bruins deal:
The hulking Valabik, who was famously pummeled by his boyhood hero Zdeno Chara a couple years ago, will likely be sent to Providence. He'll be a restricted free agent at year's end. But the versatile Peverley will be expected to contribute immediately for the Bs. He'll also likely provide more scoring bang for the Bs buck than they had been getting from Wheeler.
Additionally, the forward is under contract until the end of '12 at a cap-friendly hit of $1.325M. The emergence of Adam McQuaid made Stuart (and his contract) expendable. Stuart will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Swapping out Wheeler for Peverley looks like a winner, on paper anyways (a cheaper guy with better production). Bs fans have been running out of patience with Wheeler since he set the bar high with his rookie year and had failed to reach that level again.
Bruins Hockey Now discusses some kvetching about what the Bruins gave up:
Some Bruins fans, especially those over on the ever-rational HF Boards, are wailing and grinding their teeth over the loss of Colborne. I'm honestly not sure why. Sure, Colborne's a big kid and has talent, but the knock on him has been that he doesn't use his size efficiently and plays a lot smaller than he is. Some even said that when the game turns physical, Colborne disappears. That's not a good look for someone who is 6'5", and Bruins fans have seen enough guys who don't use their size over the years (see Wheeler, Blake and Gill, Hal).
Scott Burnside of ESPN doesn't see Kaberle as a final piece to the Cup puzzle for the Bruins:
One also has to wonder how Kaberle will fit in with Bruins coach Claude Julien, who demands defensive responsibility from his players. Kaberle has been playing for one of the league's worst defensive teams in recent years. Again, perhaps this is a function of the players around Kaberle, but to say that would be to ignore the obvious flaws in his game -- he is not particularly physical and not particularly good in his own zone.
Finally -- and this is the key point for us -- Kaberle has not played in an NHL playoff game since before the 2004-05 lockout. In any of the past few seasons, he could have gone to management and ask to be moved to a contender. He did not. Does this player have the desire or will to win after seeming to be perfectly content to play out the string in Toronto these past seasons?
Editor In Leaf offers a Toronto-centric take on how the trade helps the Bruins:
For the Bruins, this deal helps them in two ways. First, they are getting a big piece for a potential cup run. Kabs is going to do wonders on the Bruins blueline and is going to add quite a bit of depth for them. With Kaberle on the second pairing, the B's are going to be a threat at all times. Secondly, the Leafs get worse, meaning they fall in the standings, meaning that pick the Bruin's have gets better and better.
M Forbes of Bitter Leaf Fan doesn't live up to the site's name in this Kaberle tribute:
In the end, I am saddened by Kaberle's departure. Like so many Leaf greats before him I fear he will not be judged by the lens of his accomplishments or how he performed on the ice, but by the shortcomings of his team during his tenure. It's unfortunate that the failures of management, especially their inability to surround players like Kaberle with the appropriate pieces to win, will colour how many evaluate his career as a Leaf. I do hope time corrects that viewpoint as it has for Sittler, Salming and Sundin.
Mike Brophy of Sportsnet sees hope for the Leafs:
Suddenly Burke's Leafs have what they didn't as early as a few weeks ago -- hope! The recent transactions put the Leafs in an improved position to be better a year from now than they have been at this stage of the season in recent memory. They went from the embarrassment of possibly giving the Bruins back-to-back lottery picks to now having two first-round picks of their own; late picks, albeit, but first round picks nonetheless. And they have kids in Aulie, Colborne and Gardiner who are considered very good prospects; players who are arguably further along the development curve than many of their peers.
Pension Plan Puppets looked at the Leafs' success or failure in this trade:
In terms of winners and losers, it would be easy for me to note that the Bruins gave up two first rounders for Kaberle and make a snarky remark about the Kessel deal. The reality is, as I and many others have said before, there are five questions marks involved in these two trades and it will take time to determine the impact that each will have on their respective teams.
Today, the Leafs' future has added two more quality possibilities. Boston's first rounder joins Philadelphia's in being later in the draft but it gives Burke something to work with. Unlike with the Kris Versteeg trade Burke moved an asset that had no future with the club.
According to most reports, neither side was interested in extending the relationship. The Maple Leafs are worse off right now on paper but it remains to be seen how the team will fill the gaps alongside Luke Schenn and on the top power-play unit. Burke still has assets to play with and players could get promoted from within the organization. Right now, the big worry is that we're going to see more Brett Lebda.
Heck of a day. In the end, we feel sorry for one man: The Peverley Hillbilly.
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