Toronto Maple Leafs Re-direct Tomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins for Joe Colborne
After years of rumors and stories being made up, Tomas Kaberle has been finally traded to Boston by the Maple Leafs. It was learnt that he was being negotiated for trade with the Bruins before the NHL Entry Draft of 2009, but it all went down Friday nearly
two years later. As his contract is expiring, it depends on where he really sees himself going after this trade; he will be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer allowing him to choose where he decides to play while Boston hopes to talk about an
extension with him after the season ends.
Toronto received the minor league Calgary, Alberta native Joe Colborne who stands at a staggering 6’5, along with a first-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and another provisional second-round draft selection.
"It's a strong message to our team and fans that we want to win and we want to be successful," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said.
Boston has played their cards in a strange way, as expressed by some critics. They want to win and be successful but many are of the view that Kaberle is not the one that will lead them to Stanley Cup glory or even the finals as the play-offs draw near.
Yes, Boston has been having major problems with injured players which mostly are defensemen, but also acquiring Chris Kelly last week hasn’t showed a major difference in their playing.
This acquisition isn’t all negative criticism; the Bruins will see improvement from the much needed offensive minded defenseman but not as fast as they hope.
The Leafs seem to have been dealing strategically, slouching in 12th place in the Eastern Conference their acquiring actually looks as If it will pay off. They traded
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=1578 back to Anaheim for defenseman Jake Gardiner and acquired another first-round pick in addition with a third-round pick when trading Kris Versteeg to the Philadelphia
Flyers. Unlike Boston, the Leafs aren’t looking for spontaneous results, but are looking for a long-term game plan to improve them overall.
"On behalf of our entire organization I would like to thank Tomas for all of his many outstanding contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, and in the community," Leafs general manager Brian Burke said during the announcement of the trade.
Kaberle undoubtedly deserved the standing ovation he received from Toronto, being selected in the 1996 NHL draft spent his entire professional career with the Leafs and has been a part of four All-Star teams. He finishes his season with them as the second-highest
scoring defenseman in the franchise’s history with over 520 points which consist of 83 goals and 437 assists.
This is expected to be the last major trade related move which the Bruins will make this season.
Joe Colborne on the other hand was selected in the 2008 draft by Boston but continued to play for the University of Denver before signing his first pro-rated contract early last year with the American Hockey League (AHL).
"We are happy to add another first-round draft pick and a solid prospect in Joe Colborne," GM Burke said
Now, Boston hopes to be added to the group of contenders for this year’s Stanley Cup, with teams such as Vancouver, Philadelphia and Detroit to be the biggest at this point. But many teams are on the rise and show positive signs of major improvement, namely
one example are the Calgary Flames who have continued to rise in these past few weeks. Others have started to fall at the worst time possible, like the Anaheim Ducks who have been thrown out of the play-off boundary line.
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