When Leafs GM Brian Burke left on his fishing trip last week, free agent Ilya Kovalchuk had just signed with the New Jersey Devils.

In the back of his mind, he was thinking that was the first domino that needed to fall in order for him to best assess Tomas Kaberle's value on the NHL trade market.

Burke returned to his office Monday to find the Kovalchuk situation had actually taken a step or two backwards, meaning Burke is no closer to determining Kaberle's future than he was a week ago.