Hockey Trade Rumors

With rumours heating up regarding Chris Pronger, I thought I would take some time to share my view on the situation. I read that Tomas Kaberle is furious that the Leafs would incorporate his name in trade rumours. Frankly, so am I. We have taken years to develop a player (Kaberle) that was drafted in the 8th round, 204th overall. How many players can the Leafs say they chose that late in the draft and are all-star caliber today. Not too many.

You can easily see why the Oilers are so interested in a guy like Kaberle. But at the same time, I feel that if we bring in Pronger and ship Kaberle off to the Oilers, then we are in the exact same boat. If we were to switch the deal and make it McCabe instead of Kaberle, then we have two all round defenceman on the top line. Granted it may cost a bit more, but in the long run it would be worth that extra cash. Maybe if we gave McCabe, Stajan and a high pick for Pronger. Or even McCabe, Stajan and cash. I think JF Jr needs to exhaust the ways of keeping Kaberle in silver, blue and white. Pronger is made out to be a savior and yes, I did see what he did in the playoffs, and yes, he is a fantastic player, but we have to remember that coming to a different team is hard and maybe Pronger won’t fit in at all? I firmly believe the Raycroft deal was perfect because we had extra youth and could afford to deal Rask. Although with Kaberle, we don’t have another young defenceman that can step up to the plate like Kaberle has year after year.

In closing I would just like to open the discussion. Do you think Kaberle is the right guy to give for Pronger or should we try a sign and trade with McCabe. He can be a defensive liability a lot of times and the team needs defensive strength more than anything. I look forward to hearing from everyone on this matter and we’ll see what happens in the not too distant future.

-Leafazoid-