Evander Kane fans finally have something to cheer about.
Dan Bylsma told WGR Buffalo that Kane's return to the starting lineup is just a matter of time.
Kane cracked ribs when he was sent flying headlong by Montreal's Alexei Emelin and collided with the end wall on October 13.
Thanks, Sabres TV
Bylsma said that Kane is going to take the morning skate on Wednesday when the Sabres host the Senators.
Buffalo then has a home-and-home series with New Jersey. The first game will be played in Buffalo on Friday. Then it's off to St. Louis for a Tuesday night tilt with the Blues.
The Sabres need goal scoring help badly. The Sabres are ranked 28th in the NHL with 25 goals for in 12 games played this season. The have scored only 17 goals at 5v5 in 12 games.
Kane potted 20 goals last season.
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On Monday night, while the Sabres were getting slapped 4-0 by the Boston Bruins , I wrote about a Western conference club that has expressed interest in possibly trading for a certain power winger named Evander Kane.
The Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres have held trade discussions regarding left winger Evander Kane.
When?
Not exactly sure.
Star Tribune Wild beat man Mike Russo addressed the Kane to Wild chatter on Sunday when he wrote:
" I can only say that I’ve been told by multiple sources multiple times that there were trade talks. But you can assume that in order to add $5.25 million in salary (even if salary/cap space were retained), it would have had to be a “hockey trade.…
Kane is presently rehabbing from the cracked ribs that he suffered on openng night against the Montreal Canadiens. The Sabres are expecting Kane to return to their lineup this week after his 11 game injury hiatus. Kane has been skating for a week and is nearing his return. The Sabres host the Senators on Wednesday. They will play a home and home with the Devils on Friday and Saturday. A return return will seemingly energize the Buffalo offense, which was shutout 4-0 in Boston on Monday night.
Kane would add immediate scoring and toughness to the Wild top six forward group. When healthy and focused on hockey, Kane can be a dominant, physical force. When he loses his focus away from the rink, it can get Kane in trouble.
In July, Kane was charged with four counts of non-criminal harassment, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of misdemeanor trespass after an incident at a Buffalo nightclub.
On October 31, Kane went to Buffalo City Court to answer teh charges. The judge presiding over the Kane case ruled that the charges the Vancouver native will be dropped as long as he stays out of any legal trouble between now and March 30th.
Kane has two years remaining on his Buffalo contract. He is a $5.25M salary cap hit.
The Wild would have to send $5.25 million in salary to Buffalo in order to make a Kane deal happen. In other words, money in, money out. The Wild have just $903,000 in available salary cap space.
The Sabres have likely asked the Wild for a defenseman in exchage for Evander Kane.
Veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian will be out for "weeks" with a knee injury. Dan Bylsma is having to rely upon rookie Casey Nelson and veteran Cody Franson in Bogosian's absence. The Sabres were looking for a trade partner to acquire a D before the Bogosian injury. I assume Tim Murray has been on heightened alert as he continues to look for a difference making defenseman. In my opinion, Nelson and Franson are not going to be up to the task of holding up to the pressure over the long term as Bogosianmends his injured knee. Tim Murray describved Bogosian's timetable to return in terms of "weeks". Four weeks? Six weeks? Eight weeks?
Murray won't admitted publicly, however, privately he is trying to add another top four D-man to his core of Rasmus Ristolainen, Josh Gorges, Jake McCabe, Dmitry Kulikov, Cody Franson and Casey Nelson. What if Buffalo suffers another injury to it's D corps? What then? Murraycould call up AHL D-man Taylor Fedun. Or, he could use one of his emergency call ups to promote prospect Brendan Guhle from his junior team in Prince Albert.
The Wild have a prodigious D corps and that makes Minnesota an attractive trade partner.
Jared Spurgeon is a crafty puck mover who earns $5,187,500 this season. Spurgeon is in year one of a four year, $20,750,000 contract. The Spurgeon contract would negate the Kane contract. Buffalo likely woud have to absotb a portion of Kane's contract in order to make a deal work. Spurgeon, 26, has a goal and an assist in 7 games played this season. In 2015-16, Spurgeon scored 11 goals and 18 assists in 77 games.
Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is a $4,166,667 milliom AAV . Brodin is in the second year of a six year, $25 million contract.
Another solution to Minnesota's need to shed salary cap space to trade for Kane's $5.25M AAV is Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher sending forward Charlie Coyle's $3.2M AAV and defenseman Matthew Dumba's $2.55M AAV to Buffalo in exchange for Kane and a premium pick or hot prospect. Trading Coyle and Dumba to Buffalo would create $5.75 million in salary cap space for Minnesota.
Dumba ks a slick skatimg right D who was signed to a two year bridge deal in July. Dumba was a restricted free agent this past summer. While Dumba was signing a short term deal for $2.55M AAV, his fellow RFA peers Tyson Barrie, Rasmus Ristolainen, Hampus Lindholm, and Cody Ceci were negotiating long term contaracts for muli-millions of dollars. I wondered why Dumba wasn;t asking for more term at higher dollars. Do the Wild not see him as a top four D? Are they still not sold on Dumba after seeing him play the past three seasons? I like Dumba's complete game. I also like that the 22 years old has already scored 20 goals and 23 assists in 163 career games played.
Kane is expected to return to the Buffalo lineup this week.
Kane's anticipated return to the lineup will no doubt activate interest from other teams that are looking to add a top six power forward to their lineup. Vancouver, Calgary, San Jose and Anaheim come immediately to mind.