Evander Kane hears the trade rumors.
Defiantly, Kane seemingly is telling all NHL GM's:
Go ahead. Make my day!
Kane is healthy, locked in a scoring streak, and is driving up his trade value.
On Hockey Night In Canada, in front of the hockey gods, on the two year anniversary of his controversial trade from Winnipeg to Buffalo, Kane reiterated why he has been hottest sniper in the NHL since December 3.
It's hard to believe that it's already been two years since the Jets received defenseman Tyler Myers, forwards Drew Stafford and Joel Armia, the rights to 2014 second-round pick Brendan Lemieux and Buffalo's latest first-round pick in 2015. Kane and Zach Bogosian became Sabres.
The power trio of Kane, Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart pushed the pace and stole the show.
The 9-15-23 line was too hot to handle for Auston Matthews and the Leafs.
With his second goal of the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kane now ranks fourth in the NHL with 18 goals since December 1, including an NHL-best 17 goals at even strength in that span.
Kane also scored two goals, including the OT G-Dub against the San Jose Sharks, on Tuesday night.
Kane now has 11 points (6G, 5A) in his last ten games.
Kane has scored each of his 18 goals this season in his last 32 games, including an NHL-high even-strength goals.
In the period since scoring his first goal of the season on December 3 against the Boston Bruins, Kane has 124 shots on goal.
Anaheim, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Calgary, San Jose, Edmonton, Colorado, Montreal. and Minnesota are teams that are trying desperately to add a big, strong, fast, scoring forward of Kane's echelon.
To get Kane, NHL GM's must call Tim Murray because he is not actively shopping his star sniper. Murray is all ears these days. Make him an offer he can't refuse. A word of advise: make sure your trade proposal for Kane includes a legit top four defenseman, plus a prospect, or else Murray will hang up his iPhone in disgust.
Murray does not have to trade Kane, who has one year remaining on his deal at $5.25M AAV. Kane is finally playing the type of inspired hockey that Tim Murray was betting on when he made the blockbuster trade with Winnipeg for Kane exactly two years ago today. Kane captures the imagination when he plays all out on the ice. He turns off hockey insiders and suits when he acts out off the ice. Credit to Tim Murray and the Sabres for working with Kane to hep keep him free and clear of off ice troubles in the past eight months since his his now infamous nightclub dust-up in on the day that the NHL Draft was being held in his home building in Buffalo.
Below is the list of top four D that would be required to make a deal for Kane:
Anaheim: Sami Vatanen, Shea Theodore
LA: Jake Muzzin
Vancouver: Ben Hutton
Philadelphia: Shayne Gostisbehere, Sam Morin
Pittsburgh: Olli Maatta
Nashville: Ryan Ellis
Calgary: Dougie Hamilton
San Jose: Marc Edourd-Vlasic
Edmonton: Darnell Nurse
Colorado: Tyson Barrie
Montreal: Mikhail Sergachev
Minnesota: Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella
Eichel's line mate Jack Eichel collected three assists in Buffalo's 3-1 win at Toronto.
After the win, Eichel propped his teammates for their battle and compete level in Toronto.
"We did enough to get the win," Eichel said. "Two points in a divisional rivalry game in Toronto on a Saturday night, there's not much better than that. We needed this one and we got it."
Samson Reinhart had a goals and an assist.
Eichel and Samson Reinhart did their dead level best to feed Kane for his first ever hat rick goal. Kane now has 24, 2-goal games in his NHL career.
Robin Lehner, several of high light reel quality, made 43 saves to preserve the win.
With the regulation win, the Sabres (56 points) now trail the Leafs (61 points) by just five points in for the final Eastern Conference wild card berth.
The Sabres host the Vancouver Canucks for a rare Sunday night 7:30pm face off. A Buffalo win will move the Sabres to within three points of Toronto, who are idle on Sunday night.
The Leafs will be idle until they host the NY Islanders on Tuesday night.
The Sabres play in Ottawa on Valentines Day.
If the Sabres beat the Canucks and Senators in regulation, and the Leafs lose to the Islanders, then the Sabres will cut their deficit to the Leafs to just one point.
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Marcus Foligno: Human Dump Truck
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