The Buffalo News reported Thursday afternoon that Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane will not be facing criminal charges for his role in a incident at a Buffalo night club two weeks ago.
On rge same day that Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray flew to Boston to meet with power left winger Jimmy Vesey and his agent, acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty Jr. said in a statement:
"There was never a criminal complaint filed. After a careful and diligent examination of all the known facts, including the results of forensic and toxicological testing, neither the provable facts nor the applicable law support the filing of any criminal charges or a prosecution in this matter."
Kane will not be facing criminal charges.
However, is he now a candidate to be traded?
The Anaheim Ducks sure can use a power left winger.
Read below what I wrote about Cam Fowler and Evander Kane on Wednesday night.
**
Andrew Cogliano. Ryan Garbutt. Mason Raymond. Nick Ritchie.
No. It's not the cast of extras from "High School Musical 40".
It's the list, however unimpressive, of left winger currently on the Anaheim Ducks' roster.
In 2015-16, the Ducks iced a formidable list of left wingers including David Perron, Jamie McGinn, Patrick Maroon, and Carl Hagelin.
Perron was acquired from Pittsburgh in a February trade and potted 8 goal sand 20 assists in 28 games played. He signed as a UFA with St. Louis.
McGinn joined the Ducks at in a trade deadline trade with Buffalo. He potted 8 goals and added 4 assists in 21 games played.
Maroon played 56 games with the Ducks before getting shipped to Edmonton. He scored 4 goals and 9 assists.
Brandon Pirri was acquired at the trade deadline from the Panthers but played in only 9 games due to injury. Pirri scored just 3 goals and 2 assists and was not re-signed as a UFA.
The one that got away and will leave a huge bruise on Murray's eye was Hagelin who scored just 4 goals and 8 assists in 43 games played. Hagelin was shipped to Pittsburgh for Perron, where he won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins.
Final tally:
31 goals and 35 assists skated away from the Ducks in the past five months.
Bob Murray and his new old head coach Randy Carlyle better get to work finding a left winger to skate and create with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Anaheim's top line.
Otherwise, there will be problems in SoCal come October.
The Ducks are strong down the middle and on right wing. Their D corps is stacked with blue chip talent young and old.
The Achilles heel of Anaheim's roster is it's crepe paper thin left wing depth.
What depth?!
Cogliano is the only a solid skater with an NHL body of work. He has the requisite skills, skating and scoring touch to compete at the NHL level. However, he's not a top trio left winger. He's better suited to fill out line two or three. Cogliano scored 9 goals and added 22 assists in 2015-16 while averaging just 14 minutes TOI.
Ryan Garbutt is a grinding energy guy who is devoid of skill. Garbutt is a 10 minutes per night winger with hands of stone. He banged in 5 goals and 3 assists in 37 games last season.
Mason Raymond was just signed as a UFA. He scored only 4 goals and 1 assist in 29 games with the Calgary Flames last season while averaging 12 minutes TOI.
Nick Ritchie is a former first rounder (10th overall, 2014) who is ready for his big break in the NHL. Ritchie scored 2 goals and 2 assists in 33 games played with the Ducks while averaging 11 minutes TOI. The jury is still out on whether or not Ritchie can hand with Getzlaf and Perry for 20 minutes TOI per night. That's a huge burden to throw on a prospect.
Bob Murray has been trying to acquire a top flight left winger via the trade market. The Ducks GM hasn't had any success landing his top line left winger. Yet.
Murray began his conversations with NHL GMs at the Scouting Combine in Buffalo. He upped his game at the NHL Draft two weeks ago in Buffalo. Murray continues to have conversations with several teams regarding his elusive left winger. It's a work in progress.
Murray has 6 NHL defensemen currently under contract.
Cam Fowler
Hampus Lindholm (Unsigned RFA)
Sami Vatanen
Kevin Bieksa
Simon Despres
Shea Theodore
Josh Manson
Clayton Stoner
The six D contracts equal $20,650,000 or 28% of their salary cap expenditures.
In the near future when Murray signs RFA D Hampus Lindholm to a 6 year-$36 million contract, Murray's cap will fall off kilter.
He's going to have to trade Cam Fowler.
He's been trying patiently to trade Cam Fowler.
I'm told that the two teams that are still left standing in the battle for Fowler are The Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings.
Why hasn't Bob Murray found a new home yet for Fowler?
Tim Murray and the Sabres were not willing to trade the #8 overall pick at the 2016 as part of a package for the left shot QB who eats 22_ minutes TOI per game.
The Red Wings were also unwilling to trade their 2016 first rounder. The Wings were also said to be offering Gustav Nyquist or Anthony Mantha in a package to Anaheim for Fowler. Problem. Both forwards are right wingers. Left winger Teemu Pulkkinen is on the mend from a dislocated shoulder, a red flag when considering a trade. Will the shoulder heal fully and completely?
Thus, Fowler is still a Duck.
The Buffalo Sabres have reportedly offered one of two veteran left wingers Evander Kane or Zemgus Girgensons to offer to the Ducks in a Fowler trade.
Fowler will earn $4 million for the next two seasons. Bob Murray signed Sami Vatanen last month. Now, Hampus Lindholm is the next contestant on The AAV and Term Are Right.
How many $4M AAV defenseman can Bob Murray keep on his roster which is already bottom heavy with NHL D-men.
Murray needs to balance out his roster.
Trading Fowler for a physical power winger who can finish at the net is imperative for Bob Murray.
Evander Kane is the ideal man to play the heavy, fast hockey role in Anaheim. Kane potted 20 goals and added 15 assists in 65 games in his first season in Buffalo, He buried 171 hits and had 23 blocked shots. Kane landed 271 shots on enemy goalies. Kane scored 6 PPGs, 1 SHG, and 3 GWGs.
The Sabres won't be able to land a big fish like Fowler with bait like Tyler Ennis and a second round draft pick. I've been told that Bob Murray likes physical center/winger Zemgus Girgensons.
The young Latvian really established himself as a reliable, dependable 200 by 85 foot player last season under Ted Nolan. Girgensons was Buffalo's best, most engaged, and consistent performer in their season of "The Tank".
Girgensons scored 15 goals and added 15 assists last season. In 71 games this season, Girgensons has battled injury and has scored just 7 goals and has added only 11 assists. Girgensons has value at center and wing. When healthy, and playing with talented line mates, he's easily a 20-25 goal scorer. What makes him so appealing to the Ducks is that he flushes the walls, wins and hold onto pucks, is always above the battle, back checks like a state trooper in hot pursuit, and is not shy about throwing his weight around. Girgensons has 125 hits and 41 blocked shots in 2015-16. . He is a foot soldier's foot soldier. Not pretty to watch but very noticeable by the way he batters opponents to create time and space for his line mates. He has a bomb of a shot and doesn't need a lot of time to get the puck on and off his stick.
The 6'1” and 205 lb. Riga, Latvia native loves to play the grit grinder game which would give the Ducks another real threat when they play NFL football teams on ice in the LA Kings and St. Louis Blues. Hammering the snot out of the skilled players of the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars is the key to slowing the high octane Western teams down.
Girgensons, 22, was the 14th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
There is no doubt that he figures strongly in Buffalo's future plans. The Sabres are already center-rich with Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhart, and Zemgus Girgensons, who had played most of the past season on the wing.
When Tim Murray signs UFA left winger Jimmy Vesey, it will juxtapose Girgsensons all the more.
Join the Discussion:
»