Trading Kane Ain’t So Easy
There’s so much innuendo, speculation and conjecture about the status of Evander Kane it’s hard to keep track. In fact it gets tiring and honestly, rather boring to keep finding new ways to spin a tired take.
The fact remains that Jets fans should expect and obviously accept that Evander Kane will be traded. When
Rick Ralph of TSN 1290 all but says Kane will be traded, as he did several times during his lunch show the Rona Roundtable, it’s bound to be true. Not because Rick said it but because he is saying it.
So what does that mean in the realms of trades and such? First there is no real understanding of what the Jets might want in return and who the suitors of the talented winger may be. With that being said there are a couple of places that Kane has been rumoured to be heading- one in particular is Montreal.
The Habs could use Kane as he would add speed, size, skill and goals to a team that made a surprising run to the conference finals this past spring. There is no real understanding as to what kind of return could be going to Winnipeg but is there any desire from Montreal’s side? I asked Eric Engels about this and he clearly stated that he had heard nothing about this. Yet the questions and rumours persisted about Kane going to Montreal.
The next step was going away from the usual media sources and looking in a different area. I sent a text to some one (a friend) who is very close with a person in the upper ranks of the Canadiens asking for some clarification. The first response that came back was “knows nothing, that’s all left to Bergeron and he stays out of it.”
Last week that same person who I texted was back in Winnipeg, and over cocktails we discussed the Habs again as he had even picked up on the constant rumours about Kane now that he was back. This time my friend said to me “this is what I was told, ‘if he can’t handle Earls in Winnipeg he’ll be dead in Montreal.’ So put that in the blog and online or whatever.”
Smoke screens are not uncommon in this industry but think about that statement first. Kane’s reputation, deserved or not, precedes him and taints him. That comment had nothing to do with his hockey ability, his talent, the price, or anything to do with hockey. It was based all around perception and the potential for future troubles that happen away from the ice, the rink and the team. If Montreal thinks this way, how many other teams are doing the same?
Simply by reputation alone the makings of a trade involving Kane is tough, now add the variable of finding a fair price/return for what some may believe to be a high risk.
One media member in another market who spoke to me off line and off the record said the team he covers thinks of Kane as a ‘bad seed’!!! Forget the ‘why’, the horses are long out of the barn and it might take some time to get them back in.
So while Chevy may be working to make a deal the task is that much harder. Now who’s fault is that? If Kane is just a victim, and that is a divided opinion, who holds the responsibility for this reputation? One could answer the media, or the fans, Or Kane, or the Jets themselves, or all of the above and they would not be wrong.
However, one entity from the group above has a bit more power and influence and that is the Jets. They help manage the message to the fans, they manage all the media relations and access as well as PR for many players on and away from the ice. Perhaps that’s why Kane wants out, as they (the Jets) haven’t provided the same effort for him as they have for others, like a certain player who was 2 hours late for a flight one winter morning and could not be found.
That’s another issue altogether and we’ve discussed it as many times as we have for trading Kane. This season can’t come soon enough as there are more than enough story lines to write about with the Jets except they require some hockey to be played. As some would suggest, Chevy sure isn’t doing much to give fans anything to talk about and we all know what is said about idle hands… they are the Devil’s workshop.
The other phrase that comes to mind is the Devils is in the details. Clearly some one is not looking too close at various details around the Jets and they are starting to seep out. Who’s fault is that?
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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