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Leaf Rumours

goleafsgo89 said:
Why? Because he traded a defenceman in the final year of his contract for a a guy who can net 20+ goals and can throw his weight around? You guys overrate Kaberle so bad.. sure he's a smooth skater who can advance the puck up the ice very nicely, but my god he was awful defensively last year.. he's only getting older and is on the decline.. send him packing while we can get something for him.
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How do the Leafs improve by trading a 50 point dman for a 50 point forward? In my books, they would be getting worse, because it's a lot harder to find 50 point dmen than it is to find 50 point forwards.

Unless that 50 point forward has 70-80 point potential, trading Kaberle for a career 2nd liner is stupid.

Kaberle's UFA status shouldn't factor in this at all for the Leafs because he can easily be re-signed.
 
goleafsgo89 said:
Why? Because he traded a defenceman in the final year of his contract for a a guy who can net 20+ goals and can throw his weight around? You guys overrate Kaberle so bad.. sure he's a smooth skater who can advance the puck up the ice very nicely, but my god he was awful defensively last year.. he's only getting older and is on the decline.. send him packing while we can get something for him.
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And you're underrating Kaberle to such a degree that it's laughable. Let's address your concerns one by one.

He's in the final year of his deal.

See, this would lower his value to the team....if we were talking about a player who was looking to jump ship at the end of his contract. Like a Bouwmeester in Florida type situation, for example. But as Kaberle and his agent have repeated ad nauseum that he has no desire to leave Toronto, they're not just dealing away one year of Kaberle---they're dealing away years worth of having him in the lineup.

He was awful defensively last year.

He did post up a -16, which is certainly not impressive, but it's hard to judge our top defensemen harshly when they spend a good chunk of the season defending in front of a sieve. And as Kaberle's been a very smart, reliable defender for his entire career, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

He's getting older.

He was 31 last season. C'mon.

He's on the decline.

The only real critique that I'd have of him is how badly he and the powerplay cooled off in the second half of the season. But the fact that he still put up 49 points on the 2nd worst team in the league despite that should tell you something. And that something is not "he's on the decline".

zeke said:
If we trade Kaberle for Ryan Clowe and a 2nd round pick I'll officially be on the fire Burke bandwagon.
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I'll join you.

Really, what Burke does or doesn't do with Kaberle here is an absolutely key move in his tenure as this team's GM. If he can package up Kaberle and land us another Phil Kessel-esque young star up front, then I don't think anybody will complain. But if he caves into the temptation to move him for the sake of moving him, and takes second-rate shit like Ryan Clowe in return, then he's a ****ing moron.
 
The Leafs should be looking to move Komi if they want to move salary or Schenn if they want a good young forward.

Phaneuf, Kaberle, Beauchemin should be the core of this defense for the next half decade imo. They are similar in style to the top 3 the Ducks had when they won their cup with Pronger, Nieds and Beau.
 
A 50 point defenceman.. wow, he had 7 goals. The rest were assists. Big deal. That can be replaced easily by the guys we already have. We need forwards, NOT Tomas Kaberle. Phil Kessel is our only legitimate forward. That's it. It would be silly to not trade him for AT LEAST someone who is capable of netting 20+ goals. Our powerplay was horrible last year. Kaberle did squat to help it.. a secondary assist here and there, who gives a shit. Trade him for something before he's worth nothing.
 
Oh suck my arse. I missed very few Leaf games last year. Kaberle did nothing to impress me. Go beat your dick to his secondary assists some more why don't you.
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Do everyone a favour and miss a a couple more this year, yeah?
 
Tomas Kaberle Point Totals (rank amongst NHL defencemen in parenthesis)

2005-06: 67 (4th)
2006-07: 58 (8th)
2007-08: 53 (9th)
2008-09: 31 (51st)* - 82 game pace: 45 (16th) projected
2009-10: 49 (8th)

*played in only 57 games due to inury.

We're talking about a legitimate top ten offensive defenceman; one of the elite blueliners in the league. This is not a dime-a-dozen player by any stretch of the imagination. If Burke trades him for a standard, replaceable second-line forward of the Clowe variety Leafs fans will justifiably have reason to be pissed.
 
goleafsgo89 said:
A 50 point defenceman.. wow, he had 7 goals. The rest were assists. Big deal. That can be replaced easily by the guys we already have. We need forwards, NOT Tomas Kaberle. Phil Kessel is our only legitimate forward. That's it. It would be silly to not trade him for AT LEAST someone who is capable of netting 20+ goals. Our powerplay was horrible last year. Kaberle did squat to help it.. a secondary assist here and there, who gives a shit. Trade him for something before he's worth nothing.
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:smilielol5:
 
Haha wow you guys get rattled easily.

I don't like Kaberle. Sorry. I think he's a great puck mover and excellent skater, however, other than that he does nothing to impress me.

Yeah, his offensive numbers are great, but how many times has he been nominated for a freakin' Norris trophy? Zero. His defensive game is awful and always has been. Just watch a couple of god damn games. I haven't seen a guy cave under pressure so bad in my life.

This team hasn't won a cup since 1967, and they aren't going to come any closer if they want to keep guys because they want to stay here and love the city. If Kaberle is so sick, then how come Burke hasn't gotten an offer that he's been willing to accept yet? Not only this year, but last year as well? Oh yeah, because teams like Anaheim aren't willing to give up Bobby Ryan to get this elite offensive defenceman.
 
goleafsgo89 said:
A 50 point defenceman.. wow, he had 7 goals. The rest were assists. Big deal. That can be replaced easily by the guys we already have. We need forwards, NOT Tomas Kaberle. Phil Kessel is our only legitimate forward. That's it. It would be silly to not trade him for AT LEAST someone who is capable of netting 20+ goals. Our powerplay was horrible last year. Kaberle did squat to help it.. a secondary assist here and there, who gives a shit. Trade him for something before he's worth nothing.
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If the Leafs want a 50 point, 2nd line forward, they could've sign a guy like Frolov for 3-4 million -- and NOT have to give up Kaberle.

2nd/3rd line forwards and 2nd/3rd pairing dmen are the easiest positions to fill in free agency. You shouldn't have to trade top 10 offensive dmen for them.
 
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