Tomas Kaberle to play as a Leaf
Czech player Tomas Kaberle is one happy man after he got to know Leafs will still be his home for the next season. The ice hockey defenseman’s future was under intense speculation in the media after the Maple Leaf’s received bids from all and sundry. Kaberle’s no trade could have been removed by the Maple Leafs whenever they wanted to without asking the alternate captain. Therefore, it remained to be seen where this player was going to be traded. Others said that he was more than likely to stay with the Maple Leafs. Brain Buck on the other hand was waiting until the right moment to exercise this option. The right time, the right deal may just come by but rumours were rife that such chances were quite low.
It cannot be exactly told at the moment that how many teams had shown an interest in this talented player but according to reports, seven teams were in the hunt for his duties. To start off, the Sharks desperately wanted Kaberle. There were many anxious Leaf fans that were waiting for the deal to take place. All of them were anticipating the deal and hoping that the trade would bring in some good players for the Leafs.
Buffalo Sabres after losing the core of their defence, are surviving on Henrik Tallinder, who himself seems to look thin when it comes to their back line. The addition of Kaberle to the defence would have given them more power at the back. Some rookie players in the squad would also benefit a great deal and Tyler Myers was expected to be the most likely one. Though the Sabres had added Jordan Leopold to the squad but experts believed that he is enough for the team alone.
Boston Bruins lost their strong defence man but according to experts, their defence is still a strong one. And Kaberle would have been the perfect one who would’ve made their offense and defence much stronger. The addition of Kaberle according to experts might have taken place with the trade of Blake Wheeler to the Leafs.
Columbus Blue Jackets were the other contenders for Kaberle. The defence of Jackets was far from being strong and lacked a power play quarterback. The position from last season was occupied by Leafs cast off Anton Stralman. The player was not given a chance by the Leafs and was sent back packing as they thought that he didn’t have it in him to make it to their starting line up. However, with the trade of Kaberle to Jackets, experts expected that the combination with Stralman would’ve made a formidable force that would result in many goals that the Blue Jackets had a shortage of.
The Dallas Stars are another team that are on the hunt to strengthen their defence and the addition of Kaberle as a power play quarterback would’ve caused no harm. In fact, playing alongside one of the hitting and block shot leaders in the league; Stephane Robidas would have helped strengthen the defence even further. If the deal had taken place, fans were expecting to see Ribeiro and James Neal being traded to the Dallas Stars.
According to reports, the Sharks were the favourites out of the lot to pull off the deal. The Sharks have recently suffered turmoil in their defence after the retirement of veteran defence man Rob Blake. Losing another one of their main defence man to the Vancouver Canucks, Christian Ehrhoff further required them to pull in someone who could hold and then attack while playing as a defence man. Kaberle was the best option that the Sharks could think of and was expected to come to the Sharks with the trade that was interesting and tempting out of the all offers. The Leafs will be offered the first round draft pick and possibly the second round draft pick Devin Setoguchi and Joe Thornton respectively. The deal is the most tempting by far and it looks as if it will take place. However, it is time that shall decide the future of Tomas Kaberle.
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