Time ticking on Kaberle deal

I hope Brian Burke isn’t painting himself into a corner.

The deadline to either trade or sign Tomas Kaberle is fast approaching – mid-August. If Burke hasn’t signed or traded the defenceman by that time the no-trade clause kicks back in for the final year of his contract, clearly putting him in the driver’s seat. Without a trade or deal, Kaberle becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2011.

Kaberle is neither under- or overpaid. At about $4.5m he’s exactly where he should be. He’s a good solid defenceman with exceptional puck movement and skating ability. Reliable as hell. He does have some downside. He’s not big. He’s not tough. He won’t fight. While he is fairly strong he’s not overly so; moving large tough forwards out from in front of the net is not his bag. He’s not a clutch performer. The best word to describe him is “steady”.

He’s not a stud defencemen coming out of a lean contract and set to make millions more every year once this contract is finished. He’ll get a modest raise, something on the order of $5m per year for the next 3 or 4 years. That’s it. That’s what he’s worth, and that’s all. If Burke insists on getting more for him from other teams than soneone along that same calibre then August will come and go and we’ll be left with nothing at the end of 2011 unless Kaberle really wants to stay in Toronto and help Burke rebuild.

As the mid-August deadline approaches Burke’s leverage dwindles. Other teams know Kaberle’s contract obligations and know Burke has to trade him by that deadline or Kaberle gets a free pass into free agency. All Kaberle has to do is sit and wait. The only thing Burke has going for him right now is the lack of quality defencemen on the open market – but that doesn’t mean other teams aren’t shopping members of their respective defence corps.

With the clock set to roll over into August this week, leaving Burke a couple of short weeks to get something done – sign him or trade him – you have to wonder which way this is going to go.

GO LEAFS GO!!!