When Kevin Bieksa took himself off the market Monday by re-upping with the Canucks for five years and $23 million, two things happened: First, anyone who had expected him to take some big hometown discount was surprisingly proven wrong. Second, any team with a big-name defenseman set to become unrestricted on Friday felt a little more pressure.  

That, of course, is where the Bruins find themselves. While Peter Chiarelli keeps in contact with Rick Curran, the agent for Tomas Kaberle, the biggest question debated around these parts won’t be whether the B’s keep the puck-moving D man – it’s whether they should, and just what changes, if any, their Stanley Cup-winning blue line will undergo.

Right now, all but one of the six spots are sewn up. Zdeno Chara is about to begin a seven-year deal with a no-movement clause, while his partner for most of the postseason Dennis Seidenberg is signed for the next three years with a limited no-trade clause. Andrew Ference has two years left with a $2.25 million cap hit, while both Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid will enter the final year of their current deals. Boychuk, who had an up-and-down year, will be an unrestricted free agent after next season, while McQuaid will be restricted after being the lowest-paid player on next year’s squad at a $575,00 cap hit. Long story short, unless trade winds blow, Kaberle is the only blueliner from the Cup finals that might not be there as the banner is raised. 

Despite a sub-par, and at times treacherous, showing for the majority of his time in Boston after being acquired in mid-February, somebody is going to pay Kaberle. After all, his 11 points in the postseason tied him with Seidenberg for tops amongst B’s blueliners. Maybe it won’t be the $4 million annual cap hit he figured to command if he had even been decent the whole way, but he could be looking at anywhere from the top of the $2 million range to the mid-$3 million area. The Bruins know how terrific a passer he is, and he seemed to look more as-advertised when the Cup finals rolled around. He can still play, but there are question marks as to whether he can sustain that level of activity. 

It didn’t take long after the trade to realize that Kaberle struggled out of the gate with the Bruins. It seemed to be a combination of things — for starters, he was in a new city for the first time in his career, and by the end of the finals, he appeared to be getting the hang of it. Then, there’s conditioning — Kaberle isn’t a particularly strong skater (some might describe his skating as worse), and nobody could ever mistake Kaberle for one of his workout-warrior teammates. Given that he’s getting older and that this next deal could be his last if he wanted it to be, that could be a bit of a red flag. 

Worse than anything else, though — and this may be correctable — was his predictability. When Kaberle has the puck, he can work wonders. The issue is that players figure out pretty quickly how to get the puck from him. Yep, the “just go and take it” method worked fine, as Kaberle was outmuscled on multiple occasions on turnovers that proved costly.

The Bruins have plenty of space — something in the ballpark of $12 million before signing Brad Marchand — to keep Kaberle without coming close to the ceiling, but given that bigger contracts will have to be dished to other players in future years (David Krejci will need re-upping after the coming season, while Tyler Seguin will be in for a big raise if he is among the NHL’s best by the time his rookie deal expires in 2013), they certainly can’t get carried away with spending just because they have cap room. Then, there’s always the pipedream of trying to sign Shea Weber in the future if the current restricted free agent doesn't get a long-term deal in Nashville.

So if the Bruins do spend money on defense, they shouldn’t go crazy. Trying to get Kaberle for $3 million or less wouldn’t hurt, nor would inquiring about the services of James Wisniewski, who had a career year last season between Long Island and Montreal. Christian Ehroff is two years older, but has been consistent the last three seasons. There’s no harm in ringing the agents of both Ehroff and Wisniewski, but the Bruins have to know they have the luxury of walking away without worry should someone’s price tag be unwarranted. 

Then there is what might be a less flashy, (but more economical) option: sticking with Steven Kampfer as the sixth defenseman and having Matt Bartkowski as the extra guy. That way, they’ll have put themselves in better financial shape for the future while getting a good shot to see whether Kampfer will be the 20-minute-a-night player he was after his callup or the one who lost them a game in Nashville. 

All the fuss over one spot, and a bottom-pairing defenseman at that. With free agency beginning Friday, we could have the answer soon.