Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman comes this out-of-left-field suggestion from the Boston Globe’s Kevin Dupont regarding one Patrick Kane:
It increasingly looks and sounds as if the Blackhawks will move longtime franchise pieces Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, each about to enter the final year of their megadeals that carry $10.5M cap hits. Of the two, the 33-year-old Kane remains the most vital and productive (92 points last season), and maybe a team like Detroit (young stars evolving) or Anaheim (winters a touch warmer than both Detroit and Chicago) would entertain the idea of offering a two- or three-year extension at a decent dollar.
Continued; Kane has a full no-movement clause, so he’s able to turn down or approve every potential trade, and while his cap hit is $10.5 million U.S. this upcoming season, he’s making $6.9 million in real-world dollars, per CapFriendly.
He’s still an elite goal-scorer and play-maker with a good five years left on his odometer, so I would see Kane more likely to head back home to Buffalo than Detroit, and I’m not certain that the Red Wings would be willing to pay the haul of prospects and picks that Chicago would logically demand for Kane.
Stranger things have happened, but a Kadri signing on a short-term contract makes more sense to me than a Kane trade.
Is it petty if I want nothing to do with those two becuase of the Kyle Beach situation?
Not at all. Not here, anyway.
I want nothing to do with Kane period. Not only because of the Kyle Beach situation, but also because of the whole rape situation being swept under the rug. Fuck that guy, I hope no one trades for him and he’s stuck on a crappy rebuilding team in Chicago.
The announcement comes one day after sources leaked to local media that the alleged victim signed a “non-prosecution affidavit”. The prosecutor said the alleged victim’s decision to stop cooperating weighed heavily in his decision. Anonymous sources told the Buffalo News that the investigation caused “tremendous stress” for the woman and her family.
This guy is a POS and would never wanna see him wearing the Winged Wheel. I was too young to remember the Dino Ciccarelli rape case, but I’m glad that dude was gone and never won the Cup with us.
If it wasn’t Kevin Dupont saying that the rumor exists, I wouldn’t believe it, and even though it is a Hockey Hall of Fame-enshrined journalist saying it, I don’t see the fit salary-wise or otherwise. I DO believe that Kane and Toews will be gone from Chicago within two seasons, but I don’t believe that either one is coming here. Chicago would want too much, and if you want to swing for the fences, Kadri is out there already as a free agent.
Agreed, but I would force Chicago to eat the salary on both guys if they wanna have any chance of moving them. It’s obvious they are tanking, so there’s no way I’m doing them any favors by taking on their contracts plus giving up picks or prospects. What other choice does Chicago have? They will suck with or without them and both are past their prime. Kane will be 34, while Toews will be 35, and they have a ton of miles on their body from all those playoff runs. For example, Sergei was 33 when he left for Anaheim and he was never the same player after that.
If you look at Chicago’s depth chart (https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/blackhawks), they are REALLY stretched for talent after Kane, Toews, Domi, Athanasiou and Seth Jones.
One way or another, I think that neither Toews nor Kane survives the burn-down (and that’s what it is), and to me, moving Kane to somewhere like his hometown of Buffalo makes a lot more sense. Toews, I’m not certain, but a cap-strapped team looking for leadership could snag him.
However Chicago does it, it’s very evident that they’re gonna tear it down as best they can, and I agree that they could very well eat some salary to facilitate those tear-down trades.