Kaberle trade will have domino effect on Maple Leafs

Brian Burke seems to feel that he is holding all the cards when it comes to moving long time Leaf Tomas Kaberle, as bonafide offensive defensemen have dried up in the UFA market, the Leafs GM is holding his trump card close to his chest and feeling out what the market is willing to offer or more like what is the most some team is willing to pay for the Leafs most gifted blue liner. 

The Leafs should be able to maximize their biggest asset if Kaberle were willing to negotiate with the team he was heading to and sign an extension with the club this would almost guarantee the club a first rounder or even better yet a top six forward. What Burke is hoping for is that some team will get desperate and offer the Leafs a deal that the general manager will have a hard time saying no to, this could at best be a pipe dream but one that does exist out there. 

Whatever it is that Burke does with Kaberle it will have a domino effect in Toronto, the census is that Burke wants a young forward that is ready to play now and the trading of the number 15 could see a few other Leafs heading out of town with him but more importantly it will open up a spot on the on the backend. The Leafs backend after the trade would be Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Luke Schenn, Carl Gunnarsson with Jeff Finger and his huge contract on the bubble. 

The club could go with youth at the number six spot in Keith Aulie, Jesse Blacker or Juraj Mikus but I feel that right now, none of the young kids are ready at this stage of the game. The Kaberle move should get Burke's attention to a veteran blueliner who can come in at a reasonable price and the names of Jay Mckee, Mike Mottau, Nick Boynton or Paul Mara could be had for $1.5 million or less. 

This will buy time for the youngsters on the back end and if Burke plays his cards correctly, which I cant see why not looking at his track record it is quite possible that the club will have a top forward joining the likes of Kessel, Bozak, Versteeg, Kulemin and Kadri up front. This folks does give some optimism to Leafs Nation, a word that I have not been able to use in quite sometime. The Kaberle trade will have a domino effect on the club the question remains which way will that domino go?