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.
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.
Kane is expected to return to the Buffalo lineup later 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.