Not quite a soap opera name, but I think we know where I'm going with this.  As Bieksa, Bergeron, Pitkanen have signed their deals, and now Erhoff and the Wiz are in negotiations with new teams, the D man market is getting scary slim.  I realize that those last two are technically still on the table, but it still begs the questioon: why is everyone so down on Kaberle? 

Granted he didn't have the best 2nd half with Boston, or a 'great' post season, but is he that terrible?  Here's a guy that's put up between 40-70 pts in 9 of 12 seasons, and hasn't had less than 30 since his short rookie year.  All while playing for Toronto...an awful, awful team for most of that time.  And, yeah, he wasn't great in Boston, but he wasn't a total bust.  He still put up 11(?) pts in the playoffs, and reality is, he doesn't really fit their mold.  Boston is a hard, physical team, and they expected him to play that way.  As much as I would love the Wiz, seeing as how he's a more physical presence that can also score, Kaberle really kind of plays Detroit's game.  He's a decently positional D Man with a solid breakout pass and the ability to get the shot through from the point.  Much like Raf was.

And the biggest thing going for him: He's from Toronto.  Detroit has a thing for aging Toronto defensemen on the wrong side of 30.  Remember when we started making the playoffs, but struggled to get out of the first round. Well we picked up Bob Rouse, an old Toronto D Man, and boom, playoff success. Remember back in '97, when we needed that last piece of the puzzle on the back end, and we turned to Larry Murphy. Old Toronto Defensemen. And Boom Stanley Cup.  Alas, we lost the great Vladie that summer, so who'd we pick up to replace him? Deadline deal, that year, Jamie Macoun. Old Toronto Defenseman. Boom. Another cup.  So what say we?  Bring in another OTD?  See what happens?

Of course Rouse and Macoun were forgettable, and Murph was a righty...something we desperately need that Kabrle ain't.  So forget everything I said and lets just hope the BJ's don't lock up the Wiz.