Avs reportedly frontrunners for Hawks superstar

If the Avs are unable to resign Valeri Nichushkin (progress is being made), Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, Elliotte Friedman has reported that they will be pushing hard to acquire Patrick Kane. It won't be an easy deal to put together given Kane's salary, but if the Hawks are willing to retain 50%, they should be able to find a deal that works. Kane is scheduled to make $10.5M in the final year of his deal and is coming off of a 92-point season for the lowly Blackhawks.

Adding another superstar to play alongside Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen will surely make the Avs even more dangerous than they were this past season. The Avs have all of their first round picks for the next 3 drafts and still have a few prospects that could interest Chicago.

With Kadri unlikely to be back given his salary expectations, getting Kane at 50% retained would give the Avs their replacement for Kadri at only $1M more than what Kadri cost them last season. With the cap rising by $1M it is essentially a wash if they acquired Kane from a financial standpoint. The tricky part would be finding an extension for Kane that would also allow the Avs to hand out the big money extension MacKinnon will be due. At this point, it would appear as though, if the Avs go after Kane, it would be a one and done for the pending UFA.

Should the Avs manage to acquire Kane, it would be quite the statement from new GM Chris MacFarland and new President Joe Sakic.