Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

Tomas Kaberle.

Now that Sheldon Souray has waived his no-trade, will Tomas Kaberle follow?

Sheldon Souray hinted at it a few weeks ago and then made it official this weekend. He’s ready to call it a day on his tour in Oilers blue and orange, a good idea at the time that just hasn’t worked out.

So another marquee player is paving his exit out of Edmonton, another NHLer deciding he’s not interested in hanging around a struggling market for the rebuild. This is however, an imminent departure that works for both the team and the player.

Think of it from a Toronto perspective:

Souray has two years left on his contract (cap hit US $5.4 million). Pending unrestricted free agent Tomas Kaberle carries a cap hit of $4.25 million, is two years younger than Souray and is a better all-around player. The Leafs would have moved him two seasons ago if Kaberle would have waived his no-trade clause.

But how much has it helped Toronto to have Kaberle in its lineup over these past two seasons?

Toronto has missed the playoffs both years, and is no closer to being a playoff contender now than they were two years ago. Kaberle still has one more season after this one on his contract.

Toronto could still get something at the March 3 trade deadline — assuming Kaberle will waive his no-trade clause and isn’t content on going the length of his contract without ever playing a post-season game — but his value is vastly diminished from where it was two seasons ago.

There is no question that Souray’s cap hit, his so-so defensive game and his injury history will make him tough to move for Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini. But the big defenceman confirmed Sunday he has instructed Tambellini that he is willing to waive his no-trade clause (which expires on July 1 anyhow), and he has told his agent which teams he is willing to be moved to.

"I’ve talked to both separately. The ball’s in their court," Souray said on the weekend. "I just gave them my opinion and from there they will do whatever they want to do. I’m not really thinking about it. I’m not going to tie anyone’s hands.

"I come to the rink every day proud to be an Oiler. It hasn’t changed the way I play. It won’t. It’s business."

This might be new to Oiler fans, who have become used to marquee players walking away to the detriment of their team.

But this isn’t Chris Pronger demanding a trade after a promising Cup run, or Curtis Joseph heading to Toronto for a fat contract and leaving Edmonton without any goaltending. Nor is it the same kind of departure all the old stars like Mark Messier and Jari Kurri made.

Souray turns 34 this July. The Oilers are not going to get him the Cup he seeks near the end of his career, and he is a luxury the team can’t afford during the rebuilding process.

He has the 17th highest cap hit among NHL defencemen, but with a paltry 13 points this season Souray ranks 88th in scoring by NHL blue-liners.

So this is not an easy trade for Tambellini, who won’t be able to swap Souray for a simple draft pick. Any team taking on that cap hit will have to shuffle some money back to Edmonton.

The offers will likely come in the form of bad contracts.

If Tambellini can get some depth players — a third line centre and a tough stay at home defenceman — and possibly a draft pick in the deal, it’s a move any rebuilding GM has to make. He may also try to include any number of small Oiler forwards in the deal. Good luck with that.

Tambellini won’t be the only Alberta GM happy to unload a big contract and a player who isn’t producing the way they thought he would.

With the kind of season Daymond Langkow is having in Calgary, how badly would Darryl Sutter like to get out from under the remaining two years and $4.5 million cap hit per season of that deal? Langkow’s production is on a four-year decline, and although he’s never been a great face off guy, he’s taken more draws than any other Flame this season and is winning just 43.5% of them.

You can call Souray selfish for wanting out of Edmonton if you like, or you can call Kaberle the same for staying put in Toronto.

But if the Oilers can divest themselves of Souray with his permission, they’ll do better with their big D-man than the Leafs will do with theirs.