Evander Kane left Buffalo this afternoon. He and his Buffalo teammates took the team charter flight to nearby Detroit, where the Sabres and Wings will slog it out on Thursday night.
Kane left Buffalo on a private airplane. We don't know if he will be returning to Buffalo again.
Monday's NHL trade deadline has Kane on the edge of his seat.
The Sabres fly to Washington after their game in Detroit. The Sabres and Caps will get after it on Saturday night. The Sabres then host the Boston Bruins at 5:00pm on Sunday.
Kane said after Wednesday's practice that he hears and reads all of the hockey buzz about his inevitable trade to a Stanley Cup contending team.
Tom Petty nailed it. The waiting is the hardest part.
Evander Kane had some fun after practice with social media and how much he pays attention to the rumors that are out there @news4buffalo #Sabres #NHLTradeDeadline #TradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/5UJJr3Rgl3
— Nick Filipowski (@NEWS4_NICK) February 21, 2018
Evander Kane knows his days in the #Sabres locker room are numbered, admitting as much when asked about the upcoming trade deadline 🔊 pic.twitter.com/KTsIchO7I1
— Spectrum News BUF (@SPECNewsBuffalo) February 21, 2018
I love that Kane hasn't lost his sense of humor. He's really a funny guy when the cameras are off and the microphones are on mute. Kane has told me a couple of times lately that he and teh Sabres are cast in a "weird situation" with his impending trade. He knows its not a matter of if, but when his agent and Sabres GM Jason Botterill give him his final destination.
Will Kane be landing in St. Louis? New Jersey? Pittsburgh? Vancouver? Anaheim? San Jose? Las Vegas? Carolina?
Only Kane, his agent Craig Oester and Botterill know exactly which teams have submitted trade proposals to the Sabres to acquire Kane.
For all of you key board GMs who think Kane's "trade value" has decreased in the past five weeks due to a lack of goal scoring, stop with the madness. Kane established his trade value in calandar year 2017. You are fooling yourself if you think he has hurt his trade value.
For now, Kane is a Buffalo Sabre. He will play his game and represent the Sabres until such time he is giving his walking papers.
"Obviously, I'm aware of what's going on. I have social media. Do I spend all day looking at it? Absolutely not. But who knows? I know guys who have found out via social media before anybody else knows."
"Yeah, if you guys are waiting for me to say it," Kane said. "It's been talked about. It's been documented. It's unfortunate, but it's the situation we're in and part of the business.
"I'm not thinking about it right now too much. I'm trying to focus on the games that we have left before that deadline. We'll deal with the move when it happens."
Kane and his agent have a tight relationship. They talk often. Kane is repped by Newport Sports Management out of Mississauga, the same uber agency that represents NHL A-Listers Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, PK Subban, Steven Stamkos, Brad Marchand, Jordan Eberle, Phil Kessel, Corey Perry, Henrik Lundqvist, and Dion Phaneuf, who was traded last week from Ottawa to LA. Newport also reps Kane's Sabres teammates Ryan O'reilly, Samson reinhart and Robin Lehner.
"Obviously, your agent knows what's being talked about and what's been said," Kane said. "It's a little tougher when it comes to a trade, especially at the deadline because there's so many different things that can happen. It's a little different from free agency per se where you have pretty much all the control.
"I have a feel of what teams might be interested and what teams aren't interested, but I really have no idea. I'm going to find out just like you guys do."
Kane said he packed for this roadie like its just another two-game business trip. He isn't packing 15 custome-tailored suits, 30 pairs of Jimmy Choo designer shoes, and 10 Rolex watches. Kane said he will deal with it when he is forced to have to deal with it.
"Really, my focus right now is just on Detroit. When the deadline gets closer and closer, I guess we'll see what happens."
Evander told media he isn't saying his goodbyes to Buffalo teammates and fans until the deal is officially done.
Kane has time to pick up the tab on a couple of team dinners with the boys. It's the right thing to do, Evander.