Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 1:50pm

KABERLE HEADS TO BEANTOWN

The Boston Bruins acquired defenseman Tomas Kaberle from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Joe Colborne, a first-round draft pick in 2011 and a conditional second-round draft pick in 2012.

What does it give the Boston Bruins
This deal had been rumored for well over a year now, so the Bruins finally get their man in Kaberle. He should greatly enhance the blueline, in particular the power play and in terms of defenseman scoring. This move gives Boston a defense corps that can compete with Philadelphia (to name one team) in the East. If they decide to re-sign Kaberle, they'll surrender a second early-round pick in this deal, but the message here is clear: Boston is gunning for a berth in the Stanley Cup finals.

What does it give the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs did well to land three very good assets (potentially) in exchange for a veteran defenseman scheduled to become a UFA on July 1. That said, losing Kaberle now hurts their chances of making the playoffs in 2010-11. In the end, that doesn't really matter because Toronto needed to start planning ahead. This move, along with others made recently, is a step in the right direction. Colborne should be the key acquisition here, since he is a big, skilled forward who can fill a hole at center for Toronto--eventually. The first rounder the Leafs are getting in this deal isn't their own back (from the Phil Kessel trade), but at least the team now has two picks in this year's first round.

Fantasy impact