Regarding Kabby

Due to a variety of reasons, Tomas Kaberle’s time in Boston was widely expected to come to an abrupt end sooner or later. After being passed over for selection by the Czech Republic ahead of the World Championships – a tournament in which they claimed the bronze medal, defeating the United States 6-3 in the third-placed game – the rumours began to swirl that the Bruins wouldn’t be extending the veteran blueliner’s contract and instead would let him go into the free agency market on July 1^st. Whether these reports were true or not is uncertain, but the Boston management evidently tried one more roll of the dice, dropping their asking price from a centre capable of playing on the Bruins’ third line to a second-round pick and then, when General Manager Byers came calling, a pair of third-round picks. For a defenseman of Kaberle’s calibre, he evidently thought this a fair price to pay, and so relinquished the final picks of the third rounds – those originally belonging to Anaheim and Atlanta – to pick up what was described as “negotiating rights to [Kaberle’s] contract”. The move brings some stability to Buffalo’s defensive line as well as a voice of experience that doesn’t belong to Denis Gauthier. The earliest indication is that the Czech blueliner will instantly become one of the Sabres’ top two defensemen, slotting in alongside Cam Barker in even strength and probably seeing some time in powerplay or short-handed situations. He had thirty-four points during the regular season to help Boston into the playoffs for the second consecutive year, but in their first-round 4-2 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins he was held pointless with a minus-8 rating.

On the continuing subject of the ITC Draft, another clutch of picks have been made. Five more defensemen were drafted – James LaPointe to Carolina; Lukas Vorel to Toronto; Mo Fu to Columbus; Ilkka Heiskanen to Washington and Wayne Peca to Dallas – along with Pelle Ottosson (to Colorado), Alexei Metlyuk (to Nashville), Igor Nikishov (to Detroit) and Jonas Linhart (to Boston).