Insider confirms with people close to Patrick Kane that the Leafs are in on the 3-time Cup winner
It's been the same song and dance ever since John Tavares arrived in Toronto but for most media members and fans alike, the Maple Leafs don't need to address their offense as much as they need to figure out their back-end issues and goaltending.
While certain players haven't been clicking to start the season, the Maple Leafs have the same usual suspects at the top of their leaderboard in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Tavares. You'd also have to imagine that Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi figure things out at some point as well.
Kevin Weekes alluded to the idea that the Maple Leafs should be on the phone with the Calgary Flames in regards to Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev. Two big, bruising, shot-blocking, defensive defensemen who would fill a need in Toronto at the moment.
However, Patrick Kane is lurking, available, and seemingly interested, so what do you do? The future hall-of-famer has been sidelined to the begin the season with an injury but is very close to returning, which only means the sweepstakes for his services are heating up.
When asked about the correlation between Kane and the Maple Leafs, Weekes didn't hold back any information:
"I asked two people about this, including somebody very close within the Kane camp, I could say that the Leafs are among the teams that have showed interest, I can say that, they're one of the teams that have expressed interest... Kane was rehabbing and skating in Toronto, clearly being a Buffalo kid, close for his parents and his sisters to come to games if it does happen to be the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They are in the mix in terms of interested teams, he does not want to be a support player, he wants to be a player that is counted upon, he wants to contribute. Kaner is like us in that he's a hockey nerd, he watches hockey all the time. So he's been watching all these games, all these teams, and trying to calculate where would be the best fit for him because he does not want it to be kind of a swan song. He wants to be on a team where he has a chance to play, a chance to contribute, and more importantly a team that he believes has a chance to make a run in the playoffs."
They are in the mix in terms of interested teams, he does not want to be a support player, he wants to be a player that is counted upon, he wants to contribute. Kaner is like us in that he's a hockey nerd, he watches hockey all the time. So he's been watching all these games, all these teams, and trying to calculate where would be the best fit for him because he does not want it to be kind of a swan song. He wants to be on a team where he has a chance to play, a chance to contribute, and more importantly a team that he believes has a chance to make a run in the playoffs."
Some of the teams interested include the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers with the former being Weekes' choice for best fit and the latter being the only team Kane wanted to go to ahead of the trade deadline before getting his wish.
In theory, Toronto could offer him a fantastic opportunity where he would be playing with this generation's most talented American player in Auston Matthewd and a very dynamic playmaker in Mitch Marner. He could also be paired up with captain John Tavares and William Nylander to form what would likely be the best 2nd line in the entire National Hockey League. He would immediately join one of the league's best power plays, a team that focuses a lot on offense, and he's used to the media attention having played in Chicago and New York.
When asked about what the price of acquisition would be, Weekes went on to say that it will cost a decent amount and teams that attempt to short-change him will be out of the running:
"I know that for a fact, he's not coming there to get a 2-for-1 pizza coupon to be able to redeem... he's not going anywhere for that, Patty Kane understands that it's a cap environment, he's not going to come in and try to really upend somebody's cap but nonetheless, you nailed it, this is Patrick Kane we're talking about. You have to compensate him fairly, that's a part of the package and if you think you're going to be getting him on a coupon or on a voucher, anyone doing that will be sadly mistaken."
So while he understands that most of the teams involved don't have a lot of cap space, he won't be signing any league minumum deals. All interested teams need to make some moves to be able to win the Kane-sweepstakes but for what he brings to the table, you have to go for it. 1,225 career points, 132 post-season points, 3 Stanley Cups, 1 Conn Smythe, 1 Art Ross, and 1 Hart Trophy are tough to come by on the open market in the middle of the season.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 10 | 399 ANSWERS Insider confirms with people close to Patrick Kane that the Leafs are in on the 3-time Cup winner If the Leafs do indeed make an offer to Patrick Kane, what's the most you'd pay him? | ||
| $775,000 (league minimum) | 143 | 35.8 % |
| $2M or less | 144 | 36.1 % |
| $3M-$4M | 81 | 20.3 % |
| Over $4M. This is Patrick Kane... | 31 | 7.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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