OT: Kaberle laughing at Marchand

[Monctonscout]

Kaberle was pretty awful at the start of the season, hence him and Diaz switching places. He's been solid since Diaz has been hurt.

He never switched with Diaz, he lost his spot when Subban signed. The only reason he sat so long is because the defense has played great most games.

 

[Coldplay]

He has been fine, and even in the first 6 games too. He's still a viable starting d-man, league wide (still bottom-pairing, though). We have a better top-6 when healthy, but on average he should be playing regularly for many teams. This is why I still hold out some sliver of hope that we can trade him before the deadline.

That said, he's still enormously overpaid and we have to buy him out this summer if we can't trade him. And I wouldn't go to extremes of caution in terms of keeping him this year for depth either... Weber isn't too much different than him, so saving Mr. Molson the $3M buyout fee in the summer is still worth doing if a trade is out there.

It's not nice to be without Diaz, but a silver lining may be that we can sort of "mini-showcase" Kaberle a bit. Look world, he's not as awful as Joe Habsfan makes him out to be.

I completely disagree. I think Kaberle is seriously better than Weber in almost all facets of the game save for defense - Kaberle is a good positional d-man, but his mobility/awareness leave a lot to be desired. Kaberle has an accurate, hard shot - Weber has a blast that he has never exploited, seems that everything has to be right for him to get his shot through. Kaberle has that ability to wrist or slap it on goal to make things happen, like on the rebound goal against the Penguins on Saturday. Kaberle's vision is second to only Markov on this team on our backend. Weber hasn't proven he can quarterback a powerplay.

Kaberle is also good for our transition game - Weber, once again, hasn't proven he can do that on a consistent basis.

The fact Kaberle is playing and Weber isn't sends a clear, loud message about how the organization views both. One might argue that's because they're building Kaberle's trade value, but I don't buy it. I sincerely believe MT thinks we're a better team with Kaberle in our lineup than Weber (and even Kaberle full-time as a #6 or dressing as a #7).

My two cents. Kaberle is an asset to this team, whether people want to admit it or not, he knows what to do when he gets the puck. If we decide to dress 7 D when Diaz is back, we'll have a more potent powerplay with Markov-Subban/Diaz and Kaberle-Subban/Diaz as our D units, *drool*.

 

[Blind Gardien]

I completely disagree. I think Kaberle is seriously better than Weber in almost all facets of the game save for defense - Kaberle is a good positional d-man, but his mobility/awareness leave a lot to be desired. Kaberle has an accurate, hard shot - Weber has a blast that he has never exploited, seems that everything has to be right for him to get his shot through. Kaberle has that ability to wrist or slap it on goal to make things happen, like on the rebound goal against the Penguins on Saturday. Kaberle's vision is second to only Markov on this team on our backend. Weber hasn't proven he can quarterback a powerplay.

Kaberle is also good for our transition game - Weber, once again, hasn't proven he can do that on a consistent basis.

The fact Kaberle is playing and Weber isn't sends a clear, loud message about how the organization views both. One might argue that's because they're building Kaberle's trade value, but I don't buy it. I sincerely believe MT thinks we're a better team with Kaberle in our lineup than Weber (and even Kaberle full-time as a #6 or dressing as a #7).

My two cents. Kaberle is an asset to this team, whether people want to admit it or not, he knows what to do when he gets the puck. If we decide to dress 7 D when Diaz is back, we'll have a more potent powerplay with Markov-Subban/Diaz and Kaberle-Subban/Diaz as our D units, *drool*.

I completely agree. While still wanting to trade Kaberle, and failing that see him bought out this summer. And while still seeing Weber as "similar" in the sense of being and adequate #7 d-man for us down the stretch if we do manage to trade Kaberle, if not in their complete stylistic breakdown, as you have illustrated.

 

[Coldplay]

I completely agree. While still wanting to trade Kaberle, and failing that see him bought out this summer. And while still seeing Weber as "similar" in the sense of being and adequate #7 d-man for us down the stretch if we do manage to trade Kaberle, if not in their complete stylistic breakdown, as you have illustrated.

Just doing my part, I see where you're coming from too.

The point of that breakdown was to illustrate that we are better with Kaberle than without for this season. I don't believe moving him for a pick is something we should look to do (unless that pick is really good, of course)...rather I think we should hang onto him and compliance buyout in the summer. It'll cost Molson more $$$, but it'll make us a better team in the short-run and increase our spending capability in the long-run.

That assumes we don't get good offers for Kaberle - if we do, then by all means, trade him. But I'd rather keep him and buy him out than deal him for a 4th rounder.

 

[Blind Gardien]

Just doing my part, I see where you're coming from too.

The point of that breakdown was to illustrate that we are better with Kaberle than without for this season. I don't believe moving him for a pick is something we should look to do (unless that pick is really good, of course)...rather I think we should hang onto him and compliance buyout in the summer. It'll cost Molson more $$$, but it'll make us a better team in the short-run and increase our spending capability in the long-run.

That assumes we don't get good offers for Kaberle - if we do, then by all means, trade him. But I'd rather keep him than deal him for a 4th rounder.

Well, I would of course wait and see how the health of the team is in the week before the trade deadline, anyway. Concussions are tricky, and the deadline is like 4 weeks away. I'm assuming Diaz is back, but who knows, and who knows what other injuries might come up in the meantime.

I'd keep Kaberle over a 4th rounder if there was actually a long-term injury on the books at the time.

But... if the team was back to full health on the blueline... maybe I would just need to know a little more about the books and have Mr. Molson's input. $3M feels like a lot of money to me. Not enough to stop me from buying out Kaberle in the summer anyway if there *isn't* a trade available for him. But if there is a trade available... and given we do have some other band-aids on D (Weber, even unready guys in the minors or St-Denis if it came down to it), I'm just guessing the trade would be a "go", be it for a 4th, 5th, 7th 2015, whatever, as a way of saving $3M on the team's bottom line.

 

[windycity]

He has been fine, and even in the first 6 games too. He's still a viable starting d-man, league wide (still bottom-pairing, though). We have a better top-6 when healthy, but on average he should be playing regularly for many teams. This is why I still hold out some sliver of hope that we can trade him before the deadline.

That said, he's still enormously overpaid and we have to buy him out this summer if we can't trade him. And I wouldn't go to extremes of caution in terms of keeping him this year for depth either... Weber isn't too much different than him, so saving Mr. Molson the $3M buyout fee in the summer is still worth doing if a trade is out there.

It's not nice to be without Diaz, but a silver lining may be that we can sort of "mini-showcase" Kaberle a bit. Look world, he's not as awful as Joe Habsfan makes him out to be.

Completely agree, he is grossly overpaid for what he brings to the table now. But leaving his pay aside and looking at his performance in terms of being our 7th D - he's done pretty well.

 

[WeberBombs]

He never switched with Diaz, he lost his spot when Subban signed. The only reason he sat so long is because the defense has played great most games.

If Subban signed before the start of the season I'm pretty sure Diaz would've been the 7th Dman on the team. So he kinda did switch with Kaberle. Diaz played great at the start of the season so Kabs became the odd man out.

 

[Karavos]

Am I the only one who thinks that Bourque should be bought out ahead of Kaberle? Sure he's played much better than last year, but the guy is a consistent Jekyll and Hyde, and I'd rather see his salary wiped out with no mark left on the cap than Kaberle and his one year left.

 

[Claimed Off Waivers]

Marchand on PK: "Subban was asking me to fight. Three or four guys asked to fight him, and he’s running scared from Horty,” Marchand said of Subban. “But he comes after the smallest guy on the team. It just shows you what kind of character they have there."

Never in my 30 years of watching hockey have I ever heard a player complain about being "picked on" by another player.

Sounds like his buddy "Looch" . These Bruins players need a tall glass of "shut the hell up".

 

[danyhabsfan]

Am I the only one who thinks that Bourque should be bought out ahead of Kaberle? Sure he's played much better than last year, but the guy is a consistent Jekyll and Hyde, and I'd rather see his salary wiped out with no mark left on the cap than Kaberle and his one year left.

Since Bourque is injured Plekanec isnt the same.

That tells you how Bourque is effective.

Id keep him and trade Kaberle if you can.

 

[Wats]

Marchand on PK: "Subban was asking me to fight. Three or four guys asked to fight him, and he’s running scared from Horty,” Marchand said of Subban. “But he comes after the smallest guy on the team. It just shows you what kind of character they have there."

Never in my 30 years of watching hockey have I ever heard a player complain about being "picked on" by another player.

It's funny because the Bruins go after smaller Habs every game...shows that kind of character they have? Good to know he's scared to fight Subban though.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Thanks MrH4bs, you don't get enough recognition on this site for every video you upload.

 

[Monctonscout]

Am I the only one who thinks that Bourque should be bought out ahead of Kaberle? Sure he's played much better than last year, but the guy is a consistent Jekyll and Hyde, and I'd rather see his salary wiped out with no mark left on the cap than Kaberle and his one year left.

You must be drunk. Bourque is 5x more valuable and has a lower cap hit. As much as I'm not on the "bash Kaberle" badwagon, we need his contract gone, either by trade or buyout.

 

[habtastic]

haha, kabs and ryder in a scrum against their recent teammates. Kabs knew how full of **** marchand is, that's why he's laughing. And despite my extreme worry about him coming in for Diaz, he has proven me wrong. Nothing spectacular, but he hasn't been the crap Kaberle and that's pretty much what we need out of him. I do miss Diaz and Bourque though. They really quickened our pace all around the ice.

 

[habtastic]

Am I the only one who thinks that Bourque should be bought out ahead of Kaberle? Sure he's played much better than last year, but the guy is a consistent Jekyll and Hyde, and I'd rather see his salary wiped out with no mark left on the cap than Kaberle and his one year left.

How has Bourque been inconsistent this year? He's been running full steam ahead, pistons pumping on every shift. A big part of why we've had a great start -- really agressive forecheck and transition. We have found a way to balance things out with his injury, but this year's Bourque is awesome - exactly what we wanted. He's a player I want to have around come playoffs. Hope he comes back soon.

 

[overlords]

Thread has gone off topic, and this really doesn't need it's own thread anyway.