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Kanectivity

February 17, 2017, 6:21 PM ET [2 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Let me clarify my position on trading Evander Kane.

I'm not saying that Tim Murray will trade Kane.

That's not to say that Murray wasn't trying to trade Kane last summer and at the beginning of this season. I digress.

What I am saying is that Murray's iPhone continues to ping and ring with inquiries about Kane.

I imagine that Murray is scrolling through his texts right now and is reading the following messages in a bottle:

"You still need a top three D, right? I can help you"

"I said no last summer. I'm saying yes now"

"I need an even strength goal scorer"

"I'm not kicking tires on Kane. I'm a buyer. Call me today"

"I want to shake up my roster. Call me."

"We just fell out of the wild card. You were right. "

"I'll beat all other offers for Kane"


Deadlines create urgency. So too do the compacted standings in the Eastern and Western Conferences.

There are bubble teams who are going to make a legit push by buying at the deadline. There are contending teams who are looking to go all-in. There are teams barely hanging on to the playoff spot by their cuticles. There are others who are so far ahead of the pack that they want to add firepower for the real season: the Stanley Cup playoffs.


Murray said last week that he is not initiating trade calls for Kane. Murray applauded Kane for finally playing like the dominant power forward that the he traded for two winters ago. Murray said that he appreciates Kane while he is on the ice. GMTM also added that Kane'swell chronicled off-ice legal issues will not be forgotten by Buffalo management, coaches and ownership any time soon.

Kane is very marketable right now. His brand is red hot. He is playing well in all phases of the game and he is being a pain in the ass.

In a good way.


Opposing forwards and D cant stand Kane when he is one the ice because he is liable to make them look bad after he picks their pockets for a scoring chance or he punches them in teh face in a heated scrum.

Evander has scored 19 goals, including an NHL leading 18 goals at 5v5, since December 3. Kane is healthy and hyper focused on keeping his Sabres in playoff contention. The Sabres are just three points behind the Maple Leafs for the second wild card berth in the East.

Why trade Kane? Why not ride this wave of offensive prosperity?


Why?


Trading Kane now, at the height of his career trade value, will allow Tim Murray the opportunity to patch the glaring hole in his top three D group.

The Sabres would be a bona fide playoff team right now had they succeeded in adding a true top four D last summer. Sabres fans will never know how good a defender Dmitry Kulikov can be because of the serious back injury that has been getting the best of him since late September.

Kane's value may never be higher than it is today.

Murray has maxed out his $71 million salary cap.

Kane earns $5.2M this and next season. What then?

Do you honestly think that Murray is going to be re-signing Kane to a long term extension at $6M to $6.5M AAV when the NHL salary cap is projected to stay fat for the next two seasons? How will Murray be able to afford Ryan O'Reilly's $7.5M AAV, Kyle Okposo's $6M AAV, Rasmus Ristolainen's $5.4M AAV AND an north of $6M AAV for Kane when Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart will each be looking for long term second contracts with $6M+ AAV? Add in long term extensions for Jake McCabe, Marcus Foligno, Robin Lehner, Zemgus Girgensons, and others and there simply isn't enough salary cap space to keep all parties happy.

Justin Falk, Taylor Fedun and Cody Franson are nice guys, however, they are not top three NHL defensemen. They are space holders who have played valuable roles for the Sabres this season. Brendan Guhle will be in Buffalo full time next season. Zach Bogosian will be back, too. Murray needs to trade pending UFA Dmitry Kulikov by March 1 (in a separate trade or with Kane) and get his hands on a real top three D.


Murray won't be able to make the dollars work if he re-signs Kane.

Now is the ideal time to trade Kane for a difference making puck distributor. NHL personnel people whom I speak with are looking for high quality young players who have term on their contracts. Evander Kane resembles that description.

Kane's value seemingly rises with each and every even strength goal that he scores this season.

Kane has created quite the marketplace for himself by playing inspired, fast, skilled, tough hockey.

An unintended consequence of the grotesquely bloated asking prices for Colorado's star forwards has created a secondary market where Evander Kane is the top name on the board.

The cost to acquire a winger like Colorado's Matt Duchene or Gabe Landeskog is so exorbitant and inflated right now that Evander Kane's demand increases by virtue of market conditions. It's an unintended circumstance. Duchene and Landeskog are so grossly over priced at this point that unless Joe Sakic lowers his prices, the two star forward will be moved during the summer. Thus, better compensation for Kane on the secondary market. NHL GMs continue to throw shade at Joe Sakic for driving such a hard line for Duchene and Landeskog. There is a thought process that Sakic will come to his senses and lower his prices for his two star forwards in the next ten days. I don't see it happening. Sakic is not goinbg to blink first because his owners have tasked him with getting multiple premium re-building blocks in exchange for Duchene and Landeskog. Sakic will no doubt be getting what he can in return when he trades away pending UFAs Jarome Iginla and John Mitchell. He'll get what he can for Mikhail Grogorenlo, Nikita Zadorov, and other role players.

Sakic cannot screw up the Duchene and Landeskog trades. If he walks away from each deal limping, lkike he had when he traded Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn to Buffalo, Sakic will be an unemployed NHL suit. He cannot swing and miss, nor take a pennies on the dollar offer for Duchene nor Landeskog. Nor in demand defenseman Tyson Barrie for that matter.

Matt Duchene has been linked to several NHL teams via trade rumors. Ditto Landeskog.

Same for Evander Kane.


Colorado and Buffalo are both looking to add top four defenseman.


The word I hear is that the asking price on Duchene and his teammate Gabe Landeskog is out of this stratosphere right now. The teams that are serious about trading for Duchene or Landeskog have been told to come hard in round one with three to four premium assets.

Or else, no deal.

What types of assets? Let's go with a top organizational prospect, a first round draft choice and a difference making roster player on his entry level deal. Using the Boston Bruins as the measuring stick, their GM Don Sweeney would have to trade D prospect Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo, David Patsrnak, AND a first rounder to get his hands on Duchene.


Why do you think Duchene are still with the Avs?


Sticker shock.


Joe Sakic thinks he is going to rebuild his entire roster and atone for his all of his previous sins by making one blockbuster trade.

Good luck with that.

Sakic was a hall of famer on the ice. Sakic is a wreck in the front office.

Sorry, Joe. That's not how it works. You can't rebuild your entire roster by making one or two blockbuster trades It took years to devalue your Avs. It's going to take years to rebuild the team back into a respectable contender.

Duchene is a great player and all, ditto Landeskog, however, there are other options at left wing in the NHL right now.


I, along with 24 NHL dignitaries and scouts, watched Duchene and Landeskog live in person in Thursday night. They were invisible. They had just one shot between the two of them. The Avs had just 11 shots on goal through 40 minutes. It was Go time and Duchene and Landeskog blended in. They were not leaders of men. Frankly, I expected both players to skate like their hair was on fire. No jam. No passion. No compete. Each Colorado star forward played 20 minutes TOI. Duchene and Landeskog mailed in their performances. Seriously, they were disappointing. Kane played the game with the flu after missing the Ottawa win on Tuesday night. How bad is it that Kane upstaged Duchene and Landeskog while playing when he should have been in street clothes. It's damning. Duchene and Landeskog didn't look like the best players on a tanking team. They seemingly blended in with all of their other teammates.

Kane (6'3” and 220 lbs.)is one of them. He has 19 goals, 18 at even strength. Kane hits, fights, shoots the puck like a bazooka, sticks up for teammates and has the speed of an Olympic sprinter.

Kane is a similar but very different player than Duchene.

I'm willing to say that Kane is the more complete player between he and Duchene. Kane plays with an edge and with a swagger. Kane fights his way through 6'4" defensemen to get to the net. Duchene relies more on his bomb of a shot and his speed.

Kane would cost the teams a helluva lot less than Duchene would.

I spoke with an NHL source at the Sabres-Avs game who told me that he has heard from his manager that Sakic has priced Duchene and Landeskog with his ego, not his common sense. Therefore, as the March 1 trading deadline approaches, the cost will only increase. Sakic hasn't done himself any favors by pricing Duchene and Landeskog above the market.

When NHL GMs finally get fed up with Sakic and his fictitious prices, they all hang up their phones and call Tim Murray to ask about Evander Kane.

Murray is not making any phone calls. On Kane, that is. The market is reaching out to him. Admittedly, Murray is answering phone calls and texts. The call frequency has increased dramatically since last week when Murray said he would not initiative trade talk with a peer on Kane.

Murray will always pick up when his buddies Chuck Fletcher calls from Minnesota. Fletcher can land Kane today for a Matt Dumba and Gustav Olofson package. Dumba is a top three D and Olofson is an excellent defenseman prospect. The Sabres have been scouting the Wild and their AHL affiliate in Iowa.


Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin shockey the hockey world when fired Mike Therrien and hired Claude Julien earlier this week. In his post firing/hiring newser, Bergevin reiterated that he and his management and coaching teams are committed to making a long playoff run this spring. If the price is too high on Duchene, do not be surprised if the Habs swoop in on Evander Kane. The Habs have their 2016 first round draft choice in defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, and former first rounder power forward Michael McCarron to use as trade currency.


Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall must be at his wits end. His Flyers have gotten slapped in Calgary and Edmonton in their current roadie and outside the playoff race. The Flyers are ranked 28th in even strength goal scoring. Has anybody seen Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek lately? Hextall may be ready to trade Shayne Gostisbehere for an even strength scorer like Evander Kane.

Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis is also looking for a top six left winger so that he can move Teuvo Teravainen back to his natural center position. The Sabres and Canes have been scouting one another for weeks. Noah Hanifin for Evander Kane?

Columbus are always looking to add depth. Scott Hartnell's lower body injury has forced prospect Oliver Bjorkstrand to play with the big club. Sonny Milano seems to be stuck in AHL Cleveland. The Blue Jackets have left D Ryan Murray, the second overall pick in 2012, whom Tim Murray has high regard for. Ryan Murray is currently fifth on the Jax in terms of TOI per game. Rookie Zach Werenski has played so well that he has bumped Murray down the D depth chart.

The Los Angeles Kings need 5v5 scoring from players other than Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. Anze Kopitar has been sleep walking this season. Marian Gaborik has been invisible. The Kings are 24th in even strength goals scoring. It's squat or get off the pot time in LA. The Kings have Jake Muzzin and Brayden McNabb to use as currency in a Kane deal.

The Calgary Flames are 25th in 5v5 scoring. Dougie Hamilton is still a possibility to be traded away for a power forward like Kane.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been eye balling the Sabres and Rochester Amerks for quite some time. What if Tim Murray could convince Brendan Shanahan to trade William Nylander for Evander Kane? Murray selected Willy's kid brother Alex in the first round at the 2016 NHL Draft. Don't scoff at the idea. Nylander was a frequent flyer in the NHL rumor mill until a couple of weeks ago. Kane plays a much bigger, grittier game than William Nylander does.

Several NHL teams continue to scout the Sabres. Kane has been the object of desire of several NHL teams that are looking to add a scoring power forward. The Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers are among the teams that are keeping close tabs on Kane.

Every time an NHL GM or front office type squawks about the asking price for Matt Duchene and Gabe Landeskog, Evander Kane's trade likelihood increases. Tim Murray will have to carefully review some very attractive trade proposals for Kane in the days to come.

My gut tells me that Sakic will wait until the summer to trade away Duchene and Landeskog.

When that happens, Evander Kane will be the beau of this trade deadline ball.

Tim Murray has his phone fully charged and his Bluetooth is activated. The phone calls will continue to pour in.




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I nearly died laughing when I first watched this video of my boys Marty Biron and Andrew Peters MMA brawling on the carpet at the Buffalo Bills practice facility.


Here's the back story:

UFC stars Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson were on "The Instigators" program on Friday morning to promote their upcoming UFC rumble.

The radio interview degenerated into a two on two tackle football challenge that saw Biron cut block the bigger, more aggressive Peters. Then, the crap hit the proverbial fan. Petey popped Biuron in the kidney with a heavy right hand followed by the People's Elbow to the mid-section. Petey then dropped the boots on Biron's spinal cord. Just as Peters moved in for the kill, the wiry Biron, not to be punked by the bigger man, kicked Peters while he was moving in for the pin. Biron landed his kick and forced Peters to the ground where he over powered the big man. Biron then applied the Camel Clutch to Peters and all hell broke loose.

Watch how the MMA dudes are all like "WTF" when then move in to break up the hockey brawl.






Petey and Marty are savages beyond compare!

And you wonder why I love hockey so much!


Bravo, boys!





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