Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.41

www.afootinthecrease.com

Well for the time being, Tomas Kaberle, often rumored to be on the move for the past two years now, has dodged another bullet and will remain, for now at least, with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team he so emphatically made clear that he does not want to leave. The problem now for Kaberle is that he will have to make it to August 15th without the luxury of a safety net in the form of his no-trade clause that lifted as the NHL Entry Draft got underway on Friday night.

The Leafs saw significant interest from as many as five teams but none of the offers seemed to tickle Brian Burke’s fancy. As the Leaf general manager said, by Saturday, the team had stopped entertaining offers and was focused solely on day two of the draft.

The fact that Kaberle still remains a Leaf can be looked at as a positive though. For one, Burke has said all along there is no urgency to move the longest serving Leaf. Whether you agree with Burke or not, the lack of a trade this past weekend illustrated as much and serves as another example of Burke being true to his word. It’s refreshing for the general manager of a Toronto sports team to tell the truth. J.P Ricciardi could have taken a page from that book.

Secondly, by Burke exercising patience and not making a kneejerk trade, it shows that if Kaberle is indeed going to be moved, it will be in a deal that yields the maximum return. For far too long, the Leafs have been undercut on the return when dealing their assets. When was the last time the Leafs made a deal where you could say, “wow, did they ever get a steal on that trade?” If you can remember, let us know.

Kaberle may still yet be moved, but if it happens it likely won’t be until after July 1st when the free agency chips have fallen into place and teams that require a defenseman of Kaberle’s ability become clear. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.