#22 Tomas Kaberle 2011-2012

[BigTed3]

Nice debut. I still don't understand why everybody is freaking out about this trade, our team is much better with him in the lineup instead of Weber. He's definitely not a number 1/2 guy but you're just not going to get that kind of player for Jaro Spacek straight up.

Maybe he's no longer a 1-2 guy the way he was in Toronto, but he's a top 4 guy. And if we can get Markov back in, looking at a line-up of Markov, Subban, Kaberle, Emelin, Gorges as your top 5 is a lot better than we could have envisioned at the start of the year. We still need a right-handed shutdown guy, but it's a start.

[RSD]

No kidding. In fact, were it not for Kaberle's struggles this season, we wouldn't even have been able to acquire a top-four defenseman in exchange for just Spacek. If Kaberle plays like a top-four guy, and there's no reason to think he can't be that player, given his history, then this is not only a good acquisition for us in and of itself, but a steal in terms of what we gave up -- a 37-year-old third-pairing d-man in the final year of his contract.

Honestly, I feel like sometimes fans think that if we aren't getting Sidney Crosby in exchange for Travis Moen and a 7th-round pick, it's a terrible trade. To get, you have to give. In this instance, we didn't even have to give much, yet so many are screaming blue murder.

It's because a lot of fans are living in an NHL that doesn't exist anymore. They think the CH automatically guarantees greatness, which is not the case. They also think they should be GM's and that the job is as black and white as they make it out to be. If some fans were running this team, we'd have Halak as our goalie and some ex hab as our coach.

[jennifer_rocket]

Nice debut. I'd almost love to go reread the "Montreal has traded Spacek for Kaberle" thread from yesterday and have a little laugh. People were REALLY upset yesterday. Yes, it's only one game, but Kaberle's performance today was indicative of the way he played for most of his career. So... I'm not going to be surprised if he contributes in a similar manner for the rest of the season.

[ChiLla]

Honestly, I feel like sometimes fans think that if we aren't getting Sidney Crosby in exchange for Travis Moen and a 7th-round pick, it's a terrible trade. To get, you have to give. In this instance, we didn't even have to give much, yet so many are screaming blue murder.

Agreed, I really don't get it. We traded away Jaro Spacek, a 37-year old journeyman who logged around 16 minutes of TOI against lower-tier opposition, for a younger, much better defenseman who happens to be quite good on the PP. We didn't give up much except for Cap space, which we have in abundance thanks to all those guys on the IR, and yet people are freaking out. Welcome to Montreal I guess. During the offseason, I would have been ecstatic had PG gotten a third-rounder for Spacek to be honest.

Maybe he's no longer a 1-2 guy the way he was in Toronto, but he's a top 4 guy. And if we can get Markov back in, looking at a line-up of Markov, Subban, Kaberle, Emelin, Gorges as your top 5 is a lot better than we could have envisioned at the start of the year. We still need a right-handed shutdown guy, but it's a start.

He's a top 4 guy for sure, I don't care what people in Boston or Carolina say after he played about 30 games for each team. Our defense is much better with him in the lineup, no question.

[roy_133]

Nice debut. I'd almost love to go reread the "Montreal has traded Spacek for Kaberle" thread from yesterday and have a little laugh. People were REALLY upset yesterday. Yes, it's only one game, but Kaberle's performance today was indicative of the way he played for most of his career. So... I'm not going to be surprised if he contributes in a similar manner for the rest of the season.

TBH I think he'll get better than he was today overall. He got relatively little 5 on 5 time, most likely because he hasn't even had 1 practice with the team so he's not adjusted to the system and he'll also get to adapt to his teammates as time goes on but his puck movement and vision are, quite frankly, awesome.

[BigTed3]

Nice debut. I'd almost love to go reread the "Montreal has traded Spacek for Kaberle" thread from yesterday and have a little laugh. People were REALLY upset yesterday. Yes, it's only one game, but Kaberle's performance today was indicative of the way he played for most of his career. So... I'm not going to be surprised if he contributes in a similar manner for the rest of the season.

I liked the trade. But I'm also not going to believe Kaberle is going to play as well as he played today every game for the rest of the year. He'll have his ups and downs, but when the season's done, the balance will likely fall in the right direction.

[weepingminotaur]

I liked the trade. But I'm also not going to believe Kaberle is going to play as well as he played today every game for the rest of the year. He'll have his ups and downs, but when the season's done, the balance will likely fall in the right direction.

Considering he had virtually no practice time with the team and thus had no knowledge of the system, he looked pretty good. He obviously won't be chipping in with 2 points every game, but what he will do is get better adjusted to what Jacques is doing, and as that happens, he'll get more even-strength time.

[Forever_Habs10]

He obviously won't be chipping in with 2 points every game,

Dammit

[weepingminotaur]

Dammit

I know, trade the bum!

[wmarcello]

Found this interesting Tweet, wonder if it's true?

Tomas Kaberle must be the only player in NHL history to play for Toronto, Boston & Montreal in one calendar year.

https://twitter.com/#!/ian_mendes/status/145238119166390272

[Hydrostatic]

Found this interesting Tweet, wonder if it's true?

Tomas Kaberle must be the only player in NHL history to play for Toronto, Boston & Montreal in one calendar year.

https://twitter.com/#!/ian_mendes/status/145238119166390272

Not gonna lie, I was wondering the same thing before I saw someone tweeted this.

For sure it's nice to see an immediate impact with his 2 points in today's game. We also got a PP goal for the first time in what felt like ages. But even on the powerplays where we didn't score, one or two of them looked a whole lot more solid than anything presented to us in a while.

I don't expect a saviour, and I won't expect this every night, but it certainly looks optimistic after his first game here.

[Guest]

Only 1 game, but couldn't resist. Anybody hungry???

[ColRouleBleu]

Found this interesting Tweet, wonder if it's true?

Tomas Kaberle must be the only player in NHL history to play for Toronto, Boston & Montreal in one calendar year.

https://twitter.com/#!/ian_mendes/status/145238119166390272

It's probably true, I read that only 3 guys in history played for the 3 teams and Gill is one of them, the other I dont know who he is

[31Careyprice]

Had a very good game but whenever I see his face I think of the leafs, going to take some time to change that.

[Guest]

Had a very good game but whenever I see his face I think of the leafs, going to take some time to change that.

I have the same problem. Hard to get out that blue stain.

[Guest habs1952]

TBH I think he'll get better than he was today overall. He got relatively little 5 on 5 time, most likely because he hasn't even had 1 practice with the team so he's not adjusted to the system and he'll also get to adapt to his teammates as time goes on but his puck movement and vision are, quite frankly, awesome.

I like to think of Kaberle as 'smooth'. He's always carried the puck up ice easily, doesn't panic and makes short or long passes tape to tape. His passes always come in flat(the puck isn't on edge)allowing for great one-timers. He controls the puck. Our power play was totally different(excelled) in his first game. Whereas some of our players look like the puck is a hot potato, Kaberle caresses it. I always hated him in Toronto but I think I'm gonna love him in Montreal.

[roy_133]

It's probably true, I read that only 3 guys in history played for the 3 teams and Gill is one of them, the other I dont know who he is

Czerkawski! #bringbackAsham

[jedimaas]

I like to think of Kaberle as 'smooth'. He's always carried the puck up ice easily, doesn't panic and makes short or long passes tape to tape. His passes always come in flat(the puck isn't on edge)allowing for great one-timers. He controls the puck. Our power play was totally different(excelled) in his first game. Whereas some of our players look like the puck is a hot potato, Kaberle caresses it. I always hated him in Toronto but I think I'm gonna love him in Montreal.

This is a fair assessment. Away from the puck he looked timid today (understandable after virtually no time to "learn the system" but with the puck - wow, a thing of beauty. I am not sure if anyone on our blueline looks so comfortable or confident with the puck in the offensive zone as he does. He was dancing around that blueline with no fear of losing the puck, no timidness - it was beautiful to watch for a change.

What I find shocking about the whole Kaberle deal hype is how unbelievably negative everyone (media especially) seems to be towards this. Its extremely odd. We're not talking about a guy who's been bad for 5 years. We're talking about a player who has been slumping since february of this year - and even that isnt accurate - he was pretty darned good for 3 of the bruins' 4 rounds en route to the stanley cup.

Less than 1 year ago, he was putting up 38 points in his last 58 games as a leaf. Those are still very strong scoring numbers for a defensman. Sure, he's lost a bit of a step without the puck, but he's no Sheldon Souray. He's still a smart player & once he understand's Martin's system I think you're going to see him play at least as sound a positional game as Gill - with the strongest offensive upside in the lineup for anyone not named PK or Andrei.

There's no doubt this trade is a risk - any trade is - but the reality is, it not only "no riskier" than had we signed him in the offseason - i'd actually argue that its LESS risky because we managed to Move 1 year of Spacek's contract to do so. Had we signed him this offseason (as we apparently were very close to doing) we wouldnt have ended up with Campoli - and i still expect you'll see good things from Chris. IMHO this deal is an upgrade no matter how you look at it.

I fully expect Kaberle to fit in well with this team & this system. One game, one month - even one season - of good play wont "prove" that, but time will. I think this year & next we will be praising PG for this move. Year 3 is always a toss up, especially with a player of his age, but you always take that risk. I hope Im right on this one.

[wmarcello]

As I mentioned in the GDT, I think Kaberle's smoothness (or what I called being calm and composed), stems very much from the incredible vision he has of the ice. He reads the play very well, and as such it seems that it is hard to make him panic with the puck because he always seems to have a good idea of where he wants to go with it. I am very much looking forward to what he can continue to bring to the table.

[weepingminotaur]

This is a fair assessment. Away from the puck he looked timid today (understandable after virtually no time to "learn the system" but with the puck - wow, a thing of beauty. I am not sure if anyone on our blueline looks so comfortable or confident with the puck in the offensive zone as he does. He was dancing around that blueline with no fear of losing the puck, no timidness - it was beautiful to watch for a change.

What I find shocking about the whole Kaberle deal hype is how unbelievably negative everyone (media especially) seems to be towards this. Its extremely odd. We're not talking about a guy who's been bad for 5 years. We're talking about a player who has been slumping since february of this year - and even that isnt accurate - he was pretty darned good for 3 of the bruins' 4 rounds en route to the stanley cup.

Less than 1 year ago, he was putting up 38 points in his last 58 games as a leaf. Those are still very strong scoring numbers for a defensman. Sure, he's lost a bit of a step without the puck, but he's no Sheldon Souray. He's still a smart player & once he understand's Martin's system I think you're going to see him play at least as sound a positional game as Gill - with the strongest offensive upside in the lineup for anyone not named PK or Andrei.

There's no doubt this trade is a risk - any trade is - but the reality is, it not only "no riskier" than had we signed him in the offseason - i'd actually argue that its LESS risky because we managed to Move 1 year of Spacek's contract to do so. Had we signed him this offseason (as we apparently were very close to doing) we wouldnt have ended up with Campoli - and i still expect you'll see good things from Chris. IMHO this deal is an upgrade no matter how you look at it.

I fully expect Kaberle to fit in well with this team & this system. One game, one month - even one season - of good play wont "prove" that, but time will. I think this year & next we will be praising PG for this move. Year 3 is always a toss up, especially with a player of his age, but you always take that risk. I hope Im right on this one.

If he were North American, there is no way he would have fallen from grace so quickly. But, you know, he's Czech, so...

[BigTed3]

What I find shocking about the whole Kaberle deal hype is how unbelievably negative everyone (media especially) seems to be towards this. Its extremely odd. We're not talking about a guy who's been bad for 5 years. We're talking about a player who has been slumping since february of this year - and even that isnt accurate - he was pretty darned good for 3 of the bruins' 4 rounds en route to the stanley cup.

I didn't understand the negativity either, although I believe a lot of it stems from the contract. I don't think you'll get too many arguments that Spacek is a better player than Kaberle because it's just not true. With respect to the contract, it's not a great deal, but it's not the worst deal ever. I think what's turned people off is the context in which it exists, meaning we have to deal with Kaberle's contract having already committed ourselves to bad long-term contracts with Gomez, Cammalleri, Gionta, and possibly Markov. There was some of the same talk when Erik Cole was signed, along the lines of "yes, he addresses a need, but is he worth the contract?"... but as I've said, it's not that easy to go out and find a quality power forward not a PP quarterback without giving up 1) a lot of quality in a trade or 2) signing a contract that has some risk. When I look back at PG's record, I think he's done a great job of filling needs on this roster, despite being put in situations where he's been dealing from a weak hand due to numerous injuries and a depleted farm system. In the end, we have ways to get out of this contract if we need to and we didn't give up any assets at all to go out and get Kaberle. So while a lot of fans have lumped this deal together with the bad deals BG dealt out to Gomez, Spacek, Cammalleri, etc., it doesn't necessarily fall into the same category and we certainly didn't give up a McDonaugh to get Kaberle. We have much more to gain from this trade than we have to lose, so to me, this trade was a good deal.

[S-Bah]

I'll step out on that same tree limb with Ted and say its a great deal for the Habs.If the Kaberle jinx comes with it and the Habs win with him as Boston did at least the Habs will have the class to keep him and go for another Cup.Great deals come along but rarely when your team can really use that player as the Habs do now,and for a 37 year old player that wasn't in their game plan.I really can't see how Gauthier could have made a better move than this trade,all things considered.Now the young prospects that are soon to join the Habs and the ones already there have a veteran defenceman that can still play meaningful minutes to teach them.Markov,Gill and Kaberle are all very capable of bringing out the best in Subban,Gorges,Weber and the likes of Tinordi and Beaulieu.Pretty hard to lose on that trade.I know I'm laughing and can't believe our luck in getting Kaberle right now.

[dwdemonwolf]

The sheer thought of having Kaberle and Markov on the same PP is just... mindblowing.

[Nine1One]

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/12/10/zize-matters-montreal-excites-kaberle

for those of you that don't check HIO

[BeanCountingHab]

I was also blown away by the negativity in the trade thread. I posted about 2 or 3 redundant posts because the same things kept coming up about what a huge risk this was and how we were grasping at straws hoping he could "turn back the clock."

Kaberle has been a lock for 45+ points for the last decade (including last year). Like seriously, he's about as consistent as they come.

I think the thread that would be the funniest to visit would be the "Free Agency" thread and the "2011-2012 Defense Core" thread because I know we brought up his name regularly as a player we would love to see brought in as part of our defense rebuild. Now that we've done that, people are furious because of bad 20 games to start the year.

As someone pointed out (Jed?) this is better than signing him in the off-season since we still acquire him and actually unload a 35+ contract in the process that we thought we would have to ride out this year. Not to mention we're getting him just as he's rounded into shape. (He openly admits in that article he came to camp heavier than usual after celebrating his cup win).