Report: New York Rangers still after Patrick Kane
Patrick Kane on Broadway is still alive and well. Larry Brooks of the NY Post is now confirming GM Chris Drury is still exploring a deal for the three-time Stanley Cup champion, who may very well only want to waive his no-move to come to the New York Rangers.
This is coming off Emily Kaplan’s report earlier in the day, that Kane is still of the belief a trade to the Rangers is possible.
“So now Kane is recalibrating again,” Kaplan writes. “I believe he has asked to explore whether going to the Rangers is still an option. It’s not impossible, but it would require serious maneuvering.”
There’s no surprise here as Forever Blueshirts has been writing that door was still open for the Rangers to acquire Patrick Kane since February 14. In our trade deadline outlook piece after Vladimir Tarasenko was acquired, we laid out one potential path cap-wise to add Kane with another days later.
Let’s dive into the latest.
New York Rangers still after Patrick Kane
Kane, 34, has scored 42 points in 53 games this season. The pending UFA has a massive cap hit of $10.5 million which means almost any contender attempting to trade for him will require a third team to help drive down the cost.
Forever Blueshirts recently worked with PuckPedia to find a path to trade based on the limited salary cap. The most recent scenario is as follows:
- Waive Jake Leschyshyn by February 25 to accrue $1.75M+ in cap space
- Trade Vitali Kravtsov to shed $875K more
- Get third party involved to drive Patrick Kane AAV to $2.625M (75%)
When it comes to what it would cost in assets, there’s no way the Rangers are going to give away any main piece of their roster. Prospects Vitali Kravtsov and Zac Jones are both in play, as are their first, second, and third round picks in 2023 to get this deal done. Highly-touted prospect Brennan Othmann is unlikely to be dealt according to a knowledgeable source.
As for the compensation to a third party, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquisition of Ryan O’Reilly gives us some idea. In that trade, the Leafs used a fourth-round pick to the Minnesota Wild to drive O’Reilly’s AAV down further.
So the hunt is on and we know Kane wants to play for the Blueshirts.
“It’s not the happiest I’ve been to hear about a trade,” Kane said after the Rangers acquired Tarasenko. “If things are going to happen, that was a team I was definitely looking at. It seems like they kind of filled their void and went ahead and made a deal.”
Based on cap accrual space, this deal would also need to take place on deadline day, March 3. It’s going to take a lot of work and timing to make it happen, but I’ve said it numerous times, if Kane wants to come here you have to try.
It’s a fascinating time for the Rangers and their fans. As the clock ticks, the idea of Patrick Kane skating the rest of the season on Garden Ice is not just a fantasy.
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