The NHL has gone completely cold this past week, and at the same time school took another turn for the crazy again. Result? No MSU post for a few days. But we should all be enjoying the sunshine anyway.
On the Kaberle front nothing has moved an inch. With the signing of Brett Lebda last week, Brian Burke made it clear that a defenceman is moving out of town, most likely Kaberle (surprise surprise). But now that nothing has transpired you have to wonder what the offers for Kaberle look like, and on the flip side, what the offers for Francois Beauchemin look like.
If by some chance (0.1%) Kaberle isn’t shipped out, Burke will obviously re-sign him. If Kaberle is dead set on staying in Toronto, his raise shouldn’t be a substantial one. Let’s say he re-signs for a healthy home town discount of 4.5-5 million dollars per season. That’s a nice contract for a player of his caliber, and on the other hand, Beauchemin has a pretty manageable contract as well. The difference? Kaberle is a lot better than Beauchemin.
Francois Beauchemin will likely never hit the point totals that Kaberle has managed throughout his career. And with the puck, who do you trust more? Kaberle obviously.
Beauchemin is somewhat of a two-face; one game he’s dynamite, the next he’s throwing lazy passes up the middle and making brutal decisions. A power-play tandem of Kaberle and Phaneuf is better than Beauchemin/Phaneuf any day of the week.
Who the hell would want Beauchemin? Anaheim, potentially others…
With only 3.8 on the cap, Beauchemin isn’t a bust by any stretch, and he isn’t that high risk. He’s a little inconsistent, but definitely a solid NHL defenceman who will be in the lineup game in and game out, logging major minutes. But again, he’s simply not as good as Kaberle so it’s tough to argue a Beauchemin trade, along with a Kaberle extension.
Mike Komisarek’s contract seems like one that teams may be a little weary of. And personally I think Burke would like to keep him in the fold. The Buds want to keep a couple puck movers in the back end. Komisarek, Phaneuf and Schenn aren’t exactly the puck moving type. Leave that job to Kaberle, Gunnarsson, Beauchemin and Lebda. One of those last four has to go.
The return on Carl Gunnarsson isn’t worth the risk of him being a major player somewhere else. He’s good, cheap, young. Keep him.
It comes down to Beauchemin and Kaberle. Take your pick.
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Original Story:
http://maplestirup.com/2010/07/kaberl...
