With ten days remaining in Tomas Kaberle's lack of no trade clause, it's expected that the offers will start going north when it comes to his value.
Sources tell Hockeyleaks.com that there are currently three teams with significant offers on the table: San Jose, Boston and LA. Whispers suggest Florida and Washington are involved as well, but how truthful those two teams interest are, im unsure.
The deal with the Bruins is likely the closest to happening, with the Bruins said to be offering Marc Savard and a high draft pick, possibly Boston's own first rounder. While Savard has a lengthy contract and a history of concussion problems, he had success with Phil Kessel and would fill a giant void up the middle for Toronto. With Boston signing Seguin earlier this week, the team would love nothing more than to move out one of the veteran centres.
San Jose's offer, from what I've been told, involves Ryan Clowe and a defensive prospect. Clowe wouldn't solve the Leafs problem up the middle, but would give the Leafs another offensive option on the wing. The prospect would play for the marlies and would be someone who could join the team mid-season when injuries strike.
The most interesting option may be the LA Kings, who apparently are only offering prospects and draft picks for the popular Czech defenseman. While this wouldn't help the Leafs now, the prospects being talked about outvalue the offers of both San Jose and Boston.
The feeling around the league is that Burke will deal Kaberle by the 15th of August and will simply take the deal that makes the most sense at that time. He knows that Kaberle's value will not be any higher than it is now, and he's very aware that Kaberle has no spot in Toronto this season, despite what he says publically.
Niemi remains a free agent and likely will heading into next week. I still believe the Sharks are the frontrunners to land him and making that offer sheet a few weeks ago was all part of their plan to lure the latest goaltender to win the Stanley Cup to California. Rumours of Montreal having interest in Niemi are false, but there are a few Canadian teams with interest: Edmonton and Ottawa. One other team to keep an eye on in all of this: Atlanta.
And finally we turn to Ilya Kovalchuk, who should know where he sits tomorrow. I pray that he remains a New Jersey Devil and that the league is forced to honour his contract, because once the Kovalchuk domino falls, a lot more should fall into place.
