Could Cody for Kaberle happen?

Sean and Clayton both mused about Ken Campbell’s piece on The Hockey News about a potential Cody Hodgson-for-Tomas Kaberle swap.

Here’s Sean’s take:

My answer is no. Kaberle is up for a hefty raise this summer and we need those dollars for Kesler and Raymond. Plus I want to see Hodgson get his chance here.

And Clayton’s:

As for the Canucks, they have pieces in their franchise that they can move in order to win now. The Canucks are arguably a top-two defenseman away from being a real contender down the stretch and if it costs them a big piece to do it, it has to be tempting for them.

I agree with Clayton that Kaberle is a tempting piece to acquire, though I wonder about the added value in actually acquiring him. While Kaberle is a legitimate top-pairing defenseman and a player who could play point on the powerplay, remember that the Canucks currently have the 8th best goals against per game and the 5th best powerplay in the league. (They’re also 2nd in number of powerplay goals scored.)

The Canucks would also probably have to part with one of Kevin Bieksa or Alex Edler to acquire Kaberle. Because the Canucks will lose their LTIR cap exception when Bieksa comes back, they’ll have to move some salary to accommodate Kaberle’s. (Incidentally, Dan Murphy tweeted yesterday that Bieksa has started skating.)

It’s true that Kaberle can make an already good Canucks defensive corps even better, but is the upgrade from Bieksa or Edler to Kaberle worth it at the cost of Cody Hodgson?