Well, lately some news have indeed surfaced regarding our favorite blue team. Unfortunately, the news aren’t related to trades, Leafs getting stronger or anything positive really. It all started when Kaberle’s dad supposedly told a Czech newspaper that he doesn’t believe his son will play for the Maple Leafs for the entire 2010-11 NHL season. This doesn’t come as much a surprise to many, since having a big portion of the cap spent on our defensive core and not having enough top six forwards still signals trade. Trade which we have speculated for over half a year now seems inevitable. So what is this about? Every Kaberle interview that I’ve seen or heard was with a loyal tone and regret when asked how he would feel about leaving Toronto. So why this sudden change of heart? I’m not one to speculate too much so I’ll try to keep this short.

Is Kaberle’s father taking over his career? Well no, probably not. In fact, highly unlikely. Kaberle is well in his thirties, he’s not a young man capable of bowing down to his father’s every word. It is not really conceivable that his father would have a bigger impact on his career choices now than what he had earlier in his career. Rumors have it, and people who follow the team have felt, that Kaberle’s relationship to Wilson indeed hasn’t been of the highest quality and they are probably right. But why would Kaberle change his mind just after his no trade clause kicked in again? Why not before? I mean if the relationship between him and Wilson was sour, it was sour for a long time, and yet Kaberle sounded like he wanted to stay? My first guess is that this is a typical example of sports media blowing things said in a normal interview out of proportion. My second one is that Wilson and Kaberle are using this convenience to repair their relationship publicly for the good of the team. Yes, trade is still an option but the price for a disgruntled employee is slightly lower then it would normally be. Is that the reason Burke didn’t receive a top six player offer for Kaberle? We can’t know, it’s just speculation. If every piece of information is true (which is rarely the case) then Wilson has to convince Kaberle that he’s truly wanted, and not still here just because Burke couldn’t trade him. That can be a really difficult task facing the fact that we have a lot of money tied down on our defensive corps and something still has to be done.

To conclude, this is either a coup for Burke to save face if he indeed trades Kaberle (which works both ways then) or a very clever move by the management in order to clear the air for what looks to be a promising season. Either way, I like it, as long as grown ups do the talking.

Mislav “Xterratu” Jantoljak