Brace Yo' Self Fool: It's Time For More Kaberle

Thank you Doug Wilson, and Elias for giving me a reason to beat a dead horse. There really is no sense of urgency for bringing up the Kaberle trade again, with Burke on vacation this is not going to happen anytime soon. In that time more teams are likely to enter, exit, and re-enter the Kaberle sweepstakes, so most daily arguments will be null and void by the time Burke shocks us all and trades Kaberle to the Phoenix Coyotes. Since Kaberle+Trade is a great way to get hits for this site, I'll consider what is happening with San Jose, and New Jersey, and add some fuel to the fire. It's also a much easier post to write than to finish up my post on Kadri that I've been trying to complete for the past three nights.

So first up San Jose, and their offer sheet to Hjalmarsson. Clearly this shows some intent on their part to add another defenseman, but I don't think Kaberle is the priority. First, Hjalmarsson is 9 years younger than Kaberle, he'd have been somewhat cheaper, and he wouldn't have required giving up a roster player. Not a good start for those thinking Kaberle to San Jose. The next factor is that is was more a shot across Chicago's bow than an earnest attempt at landing another defenseman. While the Sharks most definitely had interest in Hjalmarrson, they are just as content to watch the Hawks play Sophie's Choice between Niemi and Sharp. The Sharks will certainly add another defenseman, but Hjalmarsson more or less set the maximum that they are willing to spend, and that's a 1st Round Pick and a 3rd Round Pick. Anyone who is sniffing around Setogouchi or Pavelski will be turned away rather quickly, or redirected to the overrated, overpriced Ryan Clowe. I think the Sharks will probably target Bieksa instead, or go the free agent route for someone like Brian Pothier. If I'm wrong on this, and Burke is dealing with the Sharks, I'd love to see him target Setogouchi, Couture, or as a pipe dream Pavelski. Again, I said Pavelski as a pipe dream, I can't imagine what it would take to pry him out of San Jose.

The other team that has re-appeared, but never really left the Kaberle talks in New Jersey. This was brought back to our attention thanks to Patrick Elias commenting on how much he'd love to play with Kaberle. That has some interesting trade proposals coming from New Jersey fans, most centering around Danius Zubrus and Bryce Salvador. In all seriousness, this is a place where Kaberle makes sense, but definitely not for that garbage. If the Devils are tight to the cap this year, you can bet that Salvador will be demoted to Albany. Zubrus, I'm not sure what his deal is, but I wouldn't rule out a similar fate. I just always find it interesting to see how other fan bases continue to undervalue Kaberle (certainly a large portion of the Leafs fan base overvalues him, i.e. Kaberle, Kulemin for Dustin Brown & Brayden Schenn, which I have read too much lately.) The truth is probably somewhere in between. So sorry Leafs fans I don't think barking up the Zajac tree will get us too far, and as much I like Clarkson, I don't understand why any GM would ever want to trade a young player like that, and other than that, who on New Jersey is of interest? This is a team that is looking to win it all this season, and if they don't land Kovalchuk, they need all of the offensive parts they already have in place. Given the relationship of Lou and Burke, something can be worked, they're both creative GMs, but I don't see how it's done unless Zajac or Clarkson are on the move.

So that's your Kaberle nonsense for the night. In the worst case scenario we have only 33 more nights of this crap.