If they’ll have him, Kaberle would return to Bruins
Kaberle/By S. Bradley
BOSTON — It took him a while to get used to the scrutiny that comes with playing for the Bruins.
But Tomas Kaberle finally settled in.
Despite a couple of low points along the way, Kaberle was a big contributor to the Bruins’ cause in completing their seven-game Stanley Cup-winning victory over Vancouver. Although he’s due to be an unrestricted free agent July 1, Kaberle wants to be back to defend the Cup title.
“Obviously we’re going to talk the next few days and everything was hectic the last couple of days,” he said today before leaving break-up day at TD Garden. “And hopefully we can sit down or they can talk to my agent and it will be nice to be back here.”
When asked if that’s definitely his preference, Kaberle said “Yes.”
For the 25 games in Boston’s playoff run, Kaberle recorded 11 assists and was plus-8. A full season in the Bruins’ system would probably do him well.
General manager Peter Chiarelli had plenty of kind words for Kaberle Friday.
“The expectations were very high on him when he came in but you have to understand that, I go to him because he seems to be, of the group that we brought in, seems to be the most vulnerable. You know he brings, and you saw it more against Vancouver, he brings the ability to both slow down the play and speed it up with his passing and skating,” said the GM. “And he freezes guys, he freezes guys for the opposing forecheck, he freezes them in the neutral zone. He makes great passes, he skates into the trap. I think he was our top defensive scorer, he skates into the trap. So anyways, he was a real important component here and I know he was criticized for a time. But you know I’ll continue to defend him because he’s a good person and he brought a lot to the back end.”
whatever happens the guy deserves credit, he moved the puck and took pressure off of the rest of the D and enabled them to focus better on their roles. Kaberle and Wideman were both decent pmds and took way more criticism than deserved, but this town is tough on teams/players, loved the turnout at THE Parade tho. way to go people!
Bernard, I will attribute your leafs support to some sort of food poisoning or something.
The only thing worse than the leafs, are the Brui—never mind.
Toronto brought in the toughness but rely too much on a no-name offense and have major goaltending issues.
Wiznewski was a great player but also showed some bad judgement in the past. Of course there was the incident with Avery which was embarassing but I really didn’t like the head shot on seabrook a couple years back. You can’t run a guy behind the net from the blue line, hit him in the head and act like it wasn’t dirty. Seabrook has headshot issues lately too…
His shot is probably somewhere around 100mph. It was the hardest in the habs lineup but it seemed to miss the net quite a bit.
He can also scrap. Ask Shane Hnidy who ate more Wiz punches than he could dish.
@RD. We all agree on what Weez’s brings in, and the fact that him and Markov is too much money under the cap.
BTW, I live in Trois -Rivières. I’ve been a habs fan all my life, its in my blood, grew up doing push, sit and chin ups with my brothers during commercial. Trisets its called, lol.
My wish is that the habs sports a few players deserving of icetime and that can drop’em randomly. I miss Nilan, Chartraw, Roberge, Tremblay. I am so sick of this situation. I really like the way the Leafs are shaping up. Oddly enough for a Habs fan right?? They may just be my team next year if nothing is done to beefened up the habs.
Lindstrom just signed on for his chance to go out like Recchi. Good news if you’re cheering for the Bs to get their hands on an upgrade on the blue line. Less competition = better for the Bs.
yes at a discount. ask vancouver about depth on the blueline.
I’m with McT.
Kabs is just a bad fit. Plain and simple. Time to move on – there’s a lot out there this year.
Still think they need to add a skill-forward to improve the PP.
Wieznewski would make a good Bruin in my opinion. Gritty, tough, and with a lot more skill than he seems to get credit for. Did pretty well on the PP for the Habs this year too, didn’t he?
Of course Kaberle wants back in. Not only did he underperform, but he walked away with a Stanley cup. I don’t think he was a key contributer, particularly when you consider his price tag.
Bernard, Wieznewski is a hell of a player that combines a deadly point shot with some considerable toughness. I am surprised anyone here would have recognized that due to his uniform last year.
Montreal can’t afford him and Markov so go nuts.
How great is it that the season just ended and we are right into the draft and free agency? The rumors flying around already, especially Detroit’s interest in Kaberle. Maybe RD can chime in on how Wiz would fit in Boston
Kabby is a much better fit for Detroit. The Wings have a free flowing transition game that will fit with Kabby’s nifty passing game way better.
Trade him before the deadline for a pick. Rafalski is done (Honest guy leaving millions on the table just like Patrick Roy did.) Lidstrom has not confirmed his return yet…
Wieznewski is stamped Bruins all over imo. Give him a four or five year deal (the guy wants to settle down to start a family) and I’ll sign with the Bruins in a heart beat. The Bruins are a scary beast!
I’d agree with you, MCK, that I’d rather go after someone else this offseason. He certainly wasn’t as good as we expected or hoped, not even close. But he wasn’t as bad as he has been made to look either.
I think Chia lets him walk and goes after another top puck mover who wants a ring on his finger.
Agree to disagree David. He was not as good as I expected. I expected three times the player that I saw. Take the emotion out of it. And yes, Wideman was an abomination. I would rather not re-sign Ryder or Kaberle and spend the money on Bieksa, or someone like that.
MCK,
if Kaberle was awful, then Wideman was an abomination and Marc-Andre Bergeron is the Antichrist. He was about as good as we can expect a PMD to be in his own zone (only one adventure that lead to a goal in the playoffs) and he did open up room by his presence, though his passes rarely resulted in a broken play. He was a much more subtle contributor than most of the team, but it stands to reason that he was not worth what we paid.
Given his pedigree and the fact that he has a Stanley cup ring now, he will easily be able to make what he does now and then some on the open market. The real question will be how much of a pay cut will he be willing to take for the hometown team.
The other big question will be, does Chia really want a player signed for $3million or more that played less than 15 minutes in a considerable number of playoff games.
I pass. Bad trade. Move on. This is a waste of money. He was awful.
As much as Kaberle struggled in the beginning of the playoffs I could see the Bruins bringing him back. During the regular season he will see less physical play and have more time to develop chemistry with the team. He seems like the kind of player who is pretty particular where he plays as shown by his waiving the no trade only for the Bruins. That being said I’m sure teams will line up for his services because a PMD is always a sexy addition to a team even if it is not the best move for a team to make.
I would love to see Kaberle back. He is an easy target because his mistakes (hesitant to shoot on the PP, decision making when being forechecked hard) are easy to spot while his strengths (skating the puck out of a battle, simple first passes, skating the puck through the neutral zone) can be harder to spot. To truly appreciate Kaberle you have to focus on him all game, you’ll see him do a lot of smart things. I’d love to have him back for $4 million. I’d try $12 over 3.
It’s being reported the new cap will be $64million. That amount should leave teams near the cap with breathing room. Some teams will have lots of $’s to spend.
The B’s would get an extra $4.6 million to play with on top of the almost $7.2 they already have.
If it is for less money I don’t think I would mind. He did seem to really struggle to fit in and adjust, but I don’t think he was all that terrible in the play offs-especially the last couple of series (I think Boychuk was probably the most consistently awful defenseman on the ice through the whole series-although he played good games-I think he made the most costly mistakes).
Make him cheaper and I won’t mind, but I also agree that need to get Kampfer developed-I think he has nice speed and passing skill, he just plays too often like the rookie he is (or was since the season is over).
If he takes short money, fine. If not use your depth from Providence. Give a kid some time on the team and develop him.
Not really feeling a Kaberle reunion come September. Flattered to hear that he wants to come back, but I still don’t think that he’ll go for anything less than 3 years & $3mil/yr. Neither the term or the salary make much sense to me; maybe he’s worth that on the open market, but the Bruins would be better off enlisting some above average veteran depth to back up Kampfer and possibly Valabik (pending RFA). With Krejci, Quaider, and Tuukka headlining potential FAs for the Bruins NEXT summer, I think it would be wise to save some cap room.
Did PC overpay for Tomas Kaberle? Yes. But is that a trade I would make, again and again, knowing how things played out? Absolutely!
Cut your losses and do not resign him. I think Kampfer or the guy the Bruins got from Florida could provide more.
Probably the toughest decisions for both the B’s and Kaberle during the next few weeks. Can justify paying $3M+ for a 5 or 6 d-man…but maybe it just took some time for him to settle into the B’s system, and now that he’s familiarized himself, he’ll be ready to step up and return to form?
I can see him going to Detroit if they strike out on the big D guys. I think he will only be back if he is willing to take $4M or less than that for three-four year. Proven defensemen are tough finds in the NHL. If he doesnt work out, you can always trade him for something decent. You already paid a 1st and 2nd for him, might as well use him to get something back
If hes willing to take a cut in his salary to 2,125,000 (half of the 4,250,000 he made last year) I’ll take him. But not for 3 or 4 mil.
He’s worth signing for one or two years. He got better towards the end of the playoffs. I don’t think he deserved a lot of the crap he got.