Posts tagged komisarek

Admittedly, I was one of the ones who were foolish enough to stay up until midnight. Despite Brian Burke’s repeated comments that he wasn’t looking to unload Tomas Kaberle, and a sense in the hours, and days, leading up to the deadline that there had been little to no movement on Kaberle trade talks, there I was, on the couch, refreshing Twitter more than any rational person should. And yet, when the clock struck midnight Tomas Kaberle remained Cinderella. Nothing turned into a pumpkin (or a Lightning, Star, Sabre or Shark).

The ensuing reaction from Leafs nation was, unsurprisingly, vociferous, loud and, of course, in many corners of the internet, barely literate.

Luckily, there were some whose opinion was more muted. These people were able to realize the obvious, that trading Kaberle just for the sake of trading him made little sense (and if there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about trades making little sense it’s the Leafs).

That being said, not moving the long time Leaf does present some issues for Burke moving forward. With Kaberle still on the roster, the Leafs now have almost $28 million tied up in their blue line, almost half the current salary cap. On top of this, only Kaberle’s $4.25 million is off the books next summer, a number that will likely be absorbed back into the blue line on raises for Luke Schenn and Carl Gunnarsson.

Burke’s stated goal is to get the team better, now. He’s unlikely to be targeting first rounders, nor guys not ready for prime time. This means, like Phil Kessel last season, he may have to target a RFA, with a decent resume already under their belt. Of course the upshot of acquiring a RFA is that you have to re-sign them, and like they found out with Kessel last year, it’s not always a cheap process. Once this player is acquired the roster will be locked in for at least the next two seasons. Presuming players such as Tyler Bozak are re-signed, the current crop of forwards, and defensemen (minus Kaberle) are all, for the most part, here to stay. As Brian Burke says more than anyone, contracts are tough to move in the cap-era NHL, and considering almost the entire roster is now in Toronto because of Burke, moves are even less likely.

That makes the next couple of moves critical for Burke. The team, his team, will be locked in and an absence of results and the vultures may start circling sooner than he thinks. So then the final question. How does Burke acquire this forward. His depth on the blue line will have to play a role, to save cap space and too not hurt the prospect pool too much. But Kaberle has a NTC, and the interest, even if he wanted to move them, in Komisarek and even Phaneuf may be muted.

In other words, don’t get too comfortable Mr. Beauchemin. More will have to be added for the Leafs to get the player they’re looking for, but if I were Beauchemin, I wouldn’t invest in real estate in the GTA.