I talked about it earlier this month that February was going to be an important month for this team in more ways than one. First, obviously, being the ramping up of trade rumors. Now I am not sure if there was an over expectations of what this deadline was going to look like, but so far in the terms of Hawks news, its been a bit of a drag. There have been rumors going around, but it seems like the loudest guys in the room are the ones with zero credibility and absolutely no backing to their claims. For example, there has been talks that the Hawks and Oilers have an agreement in place that would send Kane to Edmonton for Xavier Bourgault, Jesse Puljujarvi, and a 2023 2nd rounder. If Patrick Kane is truly hurt and teams know it and that’s all they are willing to offer up, then if I’m KD I am turning my attention to extension talks.
There have been some talks for people with a little bit more creditability that its worth paying attention to. Carlo Colaiacovo who hosts a show on TSN Sports Radio, mentioned that from people he has spoken to, Patrick Kane is interested in the Rangers and the Leafs.
"Based on people I've talked to, if Patrick Kane were to accept a trade somewhere, the two teams on his list are the Rangers and the Leafs..."@carlocolaiacovo shared an interesting nugget on First Up this morning regarding Patrick Kane.
— TSN 1050 Toronto (@TSN1050Radio) February 14, 2023
Should the Leafs be interested in Kane? pic.twitter.com/MS2H1jKz7T
We all know the Rangers, and while I think they could still make a decent offer to the Hawks for Kane, you have to assume they are out of the running after the Sanko trade. Taking a look at the Leafs, making a big move to get another superstar would be a no brainer. Dubas is on the final year of his contract so you know he is feeling the pressure to finally get past the first round of the playoffs and to do this you have to go all out. I asked a good friend of mine who is a monster Leafs fan, what could a trade between these two clubs look like. What he sent back to me were the following: Matthews Knies, Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, 2023 1st, and 2024 2nd. Now he wanted to be very clear that he thinks the main part of the trade is Knies, and the 1st, everything else is just a guess to make money work. I know many Leafs fans are high on Knies and I am not sure they will move him for a rental. So again, lots of smoke but no fires just yet, but with the trade deadline exactly two weeks away, you have to imagine something has got to give here really soon.
The 2nd way this month is important to this team is the schedule. They were set to face 7 teams who could potentially win the draft lottery and keep Bedard out of Chicago. In the three games against those teams so far, they are 1-1-1, picking up three points and staying within one point of the last place Blue Jackets. The remaining 4 games against the bottom dwellers are against Ottawa, San Jose, Anaheim, and Arizona. You don’t want to cheer for this team to lose, but considering what’s at stake, you really hope they don’t decide to turn it on all of a sudden. But just incase they do squeeze out a win or two, after tonights game against the Senators they go on a three game span against team fighting for playoff position including a rematch with the Leafs and then back to back against the Knights and Stars.
February is definitely an interesting month for this team and while its important, its not a make or break. Once we flip the calendar to March and April is where things will get ugly as majority of the games the Hawks will play are against playoff teams or bubble teams that are going to look to take advantage of a potential shell of a Hawks team and help secure them two important points in their playoff hunts.
Puck drop is 6pm Central time against the Ottawa Senators. Will we see an Alex DeBrincat revenge game? Honestly, lets hope the cat goes off.
Next Up Ottawa Senators 26-24-3
Players to Watch Brady Tkachuk 23 Goals 34 Assists 56 Points Tim Stutzle 24 Goals 31 Assists 55 points Alex DeBrincat 18 Goals 26 Assists 44 Points
Projected Starter Mads Sogaard 1-1- 2.71 GAA .925 SV%
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