Patrick Kane closer to moving on after brief Rangers stint
Patrick Kane was a memeber of the New York Rangers for a very brief time in his illustrious career last season. Spanning a grand total of 19 regular seasons games totaling 12 points, plus 7 postseason contests adding another 6, he’s getting closer to returning to action after offseason hip surgery.
According to the latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, the 34 year-old unestricted free agent could be meeting with teams later next month to talk numbers.
“I believe the agency for Patrick Kane is currently working on a conditioning video. How they distribute that video in the days ahead – we’ll have to wait and see,” said insider Darren Dreger. “I also know that the primary agent here, Pat Brisson, continues to get requests from some interested teams, from multiple teams, in fact, just wanting a little bit more medical information. But, I don’t believe that Patrick Kane is going to be in a position where he can interview with the select teams until mid-to-late October.”
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Patrick Kane closer to moving on
Origially, many believed that Kane would be out until January to recover, but Kane appears to be ahead of schedule. An interview with the Associated Press in late August, revealed that he was mending sooner than expected.
“I think we’re at the point now where, I mean, could I come back early? Yeah, probably,” Kane said. “But does it make sense? You know, it might be better to take the full time and just make sure I’m at 105-110% instead of just 90-95. But it’s a lot better than I was last year.”
AP
So where will Kane land when he’s ready to sign his next deal and will he be open to a one-year contract with a contender or a multi-year deal for a team on the rise.
David Pagnotta mentioned on NHL Network that interested teams were the Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, and more. On Tuesday’s Insider Trading, Chris Johnston explained that any new deal for Kane won’t be easy, especially for many contenders.
“A lot of the contending teams, the sort of teams that would want to sign Patrick Kane, are entering this year either right at the salary cap ceiling or in LTIR. That’s roughly two thirds of the league, as we’re projecting it right now. There aren’t a lot of mechanisms those teams can pull in order to create cap space. They can’t give him a 35-or-over bonus – Kane missed that by five months, being able to be eligible for those sorts of things. Can’t really give him a signing bonus because that bumps up the salary cap hit in the first year. Ultimately, it might come to a team that has an injury in October or perhaps one of the handful that have some cap space right now.”
Chris Johnston, TSN
Some of the latest rumblings have him possibly signing with the Detroit Red Wings to reunite with Alex DeBrincat or a homecoming to the Buffalo Sabres.
While many fans of the New York Rangers are still holding out hope, it would be nearly impossible to bring Kane back. Unless, Chris Drury can trade some salary off the team to make room there’s just no cap space.
So although you can never say never, it appears the player known as “Showtime” will be playing somehwere off Broadway.
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