Patrick Kane Close To Saying Farewell To Chicago

I heard all preseason that Patrick Kane wanted to play for the New York Rangers this season and that it would happen. It all seemed like a done deal but Kane had a slow start to his season, the team is bad is one excuse, but his injury is legitimate. You can see he’s not the same. So when the Rangers made the Tarasenko deal and then the Tyler Motte acquisition, it seemed like that talk was dead.

After Kane expressed some frustration that the Rangers didn’t trade for him, we all knew for certain that’s where he wanted to go. Then Kane said he would tell the Blackhawks what he would like to do in ten days. That time is just about to run out, and a few days ago, you start to hear and then see articles, that Kane still wants to play in New York this season.

I heard Kevin Allen say on the Hockeybuzz Buzzcast, Kane hasn’t given up on New York. I do that show daily, so that raised my eyebrows. Then Larry Brooks wrote about it. Again, more smoke. So then I was getting a vibe. It was similar to the trade deadline last year when Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux wanted out, and Florida was his team. It came to Florida or nothing, and he was dealt. The team did what their former franchise player wanted.

Kane seems to be going down that same road, but the Rangers can’t take on his salary alone. Players have to be moved, and a third team would need to be involved unless they got an LTIR contract, but I doubt that’s what will happen here. But never say never.

The issue is, do you deal a few players and dump your draft capital? It’s not a great solution since the 2023 NHL Draft will be a good one. Maybe they can give a 2024 first, that might be a negotiation point. I expect the remaining 2023 first from Dallas to meet the conditions. A third team washes Kane’s salary down to a manageable level with one team retaining 50% of his pro-rated 10.5 million dollar salary and the other retaining 25%. If the Rangers still pursue Kane, and the word is they are looking back into it, then a lot of different players will be talked about. Kane’s play has picked up too, making this more complicated in terms of a return.

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Vitali Kravtsov will be one of them for sure. He’s never gotten a real chance in New York. I wouldn’t have drafted him. I liked a few others instead, but he still has a lot of tools and given the chance might be able to produce elsewhere. That gives the Rangers around 1.78 million in space. The Rangers can go down to 20 players for the rest of the regular season, and then put a player like Jake Leschyshyn in the deal. Elliotte Friedman explained that on the Jeff Marek show.

4 games. 7 goals. Patrick Kane is on a HEATER 🔥🔥🔥 @FriedgeHNIC joins @JeffMarek to answer if Kane ➡️ #NYR is back on the menu.

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— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) February 23, 2023

Maybe the Sabres jump in, or maybe Arizona does. That’s what it will take, but it seems like this will happen, and it may come down to the wire on trade deadline day to figure out the players and the math.