Leafs Trade Kaberle

The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally sold Tomas Kaberle, and I was surprised to see how much they got in return. I was sure that Toronto would eventually accept just a 1st round pick, and Boston was the only team that Burkie could trade him to. It would appear that Boston upped the ante to get him before trade deadline day, and they still have Toronto's 1st round pick, which should be a top 10 selection. It is better for Boston if Toronto sucks sooner, and they are not as good a team without their top puck moving D-Man. I almost think that Boston paid a little extra to get him early such as to remove an important contributor in the team whose 1st pick they own.

All in all, it was a pretty good week for Burke, who will likely now use his new assets to trade up in the next draft. It is an admission that his quick-rebuild was not working, and he's making the deals that he should have made 2 years ago. I think he regrets trading two top ten picks to Boston for Kessel, and trading Versteeg (who should have fit his timeline at a reasonable price) proves the rebuild has failed. That being said, if what he gave up for Versteeg had produced a 1st and a 3rd, that would be considered a success. It was a good week and an admission of failure.