The Maple Leafs agreed to send the blueliner to Boston in exchange for the Bruins’ first-round pick in the 2011 draft, 21-year-old center Joe Colborne and a conditional draft pick.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that the trade call was taking place around 1 p.m. on Friday. He said that the Bruins and Kaberle had not yet spoken regarding a contract extension, but that they are “willing parties” and “will at some point.”
The team officially announced the deal later in the day.
The conditional pick, according to McKenzie, will be a second-round pick in 2012 if Kaberle either signs an extension with Boston or if the Bruins reach the the Stanley Cup Finals.
“I like odds of Kaberle re-signing in [Boston] but there hasn’t been a single discussion yet,” McKenzie wrote on Twitter. “But BOS wanted him and he wanted them. Good start.”
Kaberle, 32, is due to become an unrestricted free agent after this season. He has 35 assists on the season and fulfills Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli‘s longstanding desire for a puck-moving defenseman. He is expected to provided a much-needed boost to the Bruins’ power play, currently ranked 14th in the league with an 18.1 percent success rate.
Kaberle’s 38 points this season would rank him fifth among Bruins and first among Bruins’ defensemen (Zdeno Chara currently leads that group with 10-21-31 totals).
Kaberle was reportedly on his way to Boston prior to the 2009 NHL draft, but a miscommunication between Chiarelli and counterpart Brian Burke ended that deal. The two later agreed on the Phil Kessel trade that sent the sniper to Toronto in exchange for three draft picks.
Colborne was the 16th overall selection in the 2008 NHL draft. He made his professional debut last season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, and in his first full season this year has 12 goals and 14 assists.
The Bruins said Kaberle is expected to join the Bruins on Friday night in Ottawa.
