Its September and Evander Kane is still a Winnipeg Jet. Earlier this summer, Kane appeared on Vancouver radio and was luke warm in his desire to want to stay and play in The Peg. Kane's name has been bandied about the trade rumor mill for the past two seasons. Whispers turned to screams in July when Kane made less than enthusiastic comments about the Jets on Vancouver radio.
He has scored 99 goals and 200 points in 324 career NHL games. He has never played in the playoffs. He's earned 329 PIMs as well.
Power. Forward.
Building block.
Winnipeg's loss will be another team's gain.
In July, Kane dumped unleaded gasoline on an open flame when he spoke with Vancouver's Team 1040 radio about whether or not he wants to play for the Jets anymore.
Team 1040 Host: Evander do you want to play for the Winnipeg Jets anymore? Kane: Well, I think I'm a Winnipeg Jet right now, and, you know, there's been speculation and rumors the three years since I got there. So, you know, we'll see what happens and we'll carry on as if I'm a Winnipeg Jet. Team 1040 Host: There’s not a yes in there, and some Jets fans might say, why doesn’t he want to play for us? Or why isn’t he absolutely fully on board for playing for us?... you’re shaking your finger at me. Kane: I’m training hard and getting ready for this season, and last summer I didn’t have a full year of training due to some surgery I had, so I found it really important for me to start training early and get myself in the best shape possible for this season. So that’s my focus."
Not necessarily a ringing endorsement for Kane loving his life in The Peg.
Kane has four years left on his contract with the Jets that pays him an average salary of $6 million per season.
Kane appeared on the Hustler and Lawless show on TSN 1290 on Thursday afternoon.
This time around, he sounded more diplomatic regarding his current employer.
"As usual, what I say gets speculated and over-analyzed sometimes, but I’m definitely looking forward to coming to camp," Kane said. "Looking forward to a fresh start with Paul [Maurice] in terms of him having a training camp with the group. Kind of getting kicked off on the right foot here.
"Looking forward to having a great start to the season."
Kane was then asked if it's fair to assume he's still happy being a member of the Jets.
"That would be correct," he responded.
There's no denying Kane's offensive talent. He scored scored 19 goals and added 22 assists in 63 games for the Jets last season. The 23 year old star is averaging 25 goals per 82 games over his first five seasons in the NHL.
I still think that Kane has worn out his welcome in The Peg and that he'll be traded this season. There will be a dozen teams lineup if and when he becomes available.
Buffalo GM Tim Murray can take a quantum leap forward in his re-tooling of the Sabres by making a trade for Kane. I think that Ted Nolan and Evander Kane would form a special bond.
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This year’s Traverse City Prospects Tournament will commence on from September 12 and it will run through September 16. The NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp - features eight NHL teams including the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.
The NHL Prospects Tournament will return to Traverse City for the 16th season.
The eight-team tournament will include the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues
The NHL Prospect Tournament and Camp take place September 12-16 at Centre ICE Arena. This year's event will feature four games per day over the course of the four days.
The Gordie Howe Division features: Columbus, Detroit, Minnesota, St. Louis The Ted Lindsay Division features: Buffalo, Columbus, Dallas and NY Rangers
Dallas, Detroit, Columbus, Carolina, Minnesota, New York, and St. Louis have already announced their rosters. The Buffalo Sabres are the last team to RSVP to the party.
Buffalo won the tournament in 2011. The event was cancelled in 2012 due to the NHL lockout. Detroit defeated Buffalo in the finals in the 2013 tournament.
The Sabres are expected to announce their T-City roster any day now.
Some of the NHL's future stars will be on display at the Traverse City tourney. Look at the wealth of talent on the rosters of all eight teams. There will be talented first, second and third rounders galore.
In the meantime, here are the rosters for the respective teams:
St. Louis Blues Roster:
FORWARDS
Ivan Barbashev LW STL-14 (2nd round-33) Moncton (QMJHL) Cody Beach RW STL-10 (5th round-134) Chicago (AHL) Gregory Betzold * C Peterborough (OHL) Samuel Blais LW STL-14 (6th round-176) Victoriaville (QMJHL) Chris Caissy * C Moncton (QMJHL) Jaedon Descheneau RW STL-14 (5th round-124) Kootenay (WHL) Jacob Doty RW Medicine Hat (WHL) Robby Fabbri C STL-14 (1st round-21) Guelph (OHL) Justin Gutierrez C Tri-City (WHL) Kevin Hart * C Providence (NCAA) Adam Helewka *Spokane (WHL) Zach Pochiro C STL-13 (4th round-112) Prince George (WHL) Evan Polei *LW Red Deer (WHL) Ryan Tesink LW STL-11 (6th round-162) Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL) Yannick Veilleux LW STL-11 (4th round-102) Kalamazoo (ECHL) C.J. Yakimowicz RW STL-14 (6th round-172) London (OHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Joel Edmundson D STL-11 (2nd round-46) Chicago (AHL) Jani Hakanpaa D STL-10 (4th round-104) Chicago (AHL) Petteri Lindbohm D STL-12 (6th round-176) Assat Pori (FIN) Luke Mercer * D Niagara (OHL) Santeri Saari D STL-13 (6th round-173) Jokerit (FIN Jr.) Dmitrii Sergeev * D Kitchener (OHL) Thomas Vannelli D STL-13 (2nd round-47) Medicine Har (WHL)
GOALTENDERS
Jordan Binnington G STL-11 (3rd round-88) Kalamazoo (ECHL) Niklas Lundstrom G STL-11 (5th round-132) Sodertalje SK (SWE-1) * denotes free agent tryout
Columbus Blue Jackets Roster:
Josh Anderson LW CBJ-12 (4th -95) London (OHL) Oliver Bjorkstrand RW CBJ-13 (3rd-89) Portland (WHL) Marko Dano C CBJ-13 (1st-27) Bratislava (KHL) Kyle Hope * LW Owen Sound (OHL) Sonny Milano CBJ-14 (1st-16) U.S. National U18 (USHL) Nick Moutrey C CBJ-13 (4th-105) Saginaw (OHL) Julien Pelletier LW CBJ-14 (4th-107) Cape Breton (QMJHL) Peter Quenneville C CBJ-13 (7th-195) Brandon (WHL) Kerby Rychel LW CBJ-13 (1st-19) Guelph (OHL) Lukas Sedlak C CBJ-11 (6th-158) Springfield (AHL) Markus Soberg LW CBJ-13 (6th-165) Frolunda (SuperElit) T.J. Tynan F CBJ-11 (3rd-66) Notre Dame (NCAA) Alexander Wennberg C CBJ-13 (1st-14) Frolunda (SHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Mike DiPaolo *D — Charlottetown (QMJHL) Dillion Heatherington D CBJ-13 (2nd-50) Swift Current (WHL) Thomas Larkin D CBJ-09 (5th-137) Evansville (ECHL) Olivier LeBlanc D 5.11 161 CBJ-14 (7th-197) Saint John (QMJHL) Isaac MacLeod D SJ-10 (5th-136) Boston College (NCAA) Austin Madiasky D CBJ-10 (5th-124) Springfield (AHL) Marcus McIvor *D — North Bay (OHL) Kevin Ryan *D — Niagara (AHA) Blake Siebenaler D CBJ-14 (3rd-77) Niagara (OHL) Nick Walters D STL-12 (4-116) Lethbridge (WHL)
GOALTENDERS
Oscar Dansk G CBJ-12 (2nd-31) Erie (OHL) Anton Forsberg G CBJ-11 (7th-188) Modo (SHL) * denotes free agent tryout
Carolina Hurricanes Roster:
Alex Aleardi *RW — Springfield (AHL) Clark Bishop C CAR-14 (5-127) Cape Breton (QMJHL) Patrick Brown C — Boston College (NCAA) Mathew Campagna * C — Sudbury (OHL) Phil Di Giuseppe LW CAR-12 (2-38) Michigan (NCAA) Dryden Hunt * C — Regina (WHL) Brock McGinn LW CAR-12 (2-47) Guelph (OHL) Brent Pedersen LW CAR-13 (5-126) Kitchener (OHL) Victor Rask C CAR-11 (2-42) Charlotte (AHL) Carter Sandlak LW — Plymouth (OHL) Sergey Tolchinsky LW — Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Brady Vail * C MON-12 (4-94) Windsor (OHL) Brendan Woods LW/C CAR-12 (5-129) Charlotte (AHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Trevor Carrick D CAR-12 (4-115) Mississauga (OHL) Jake Chelios D — Michigan State (NCAA) Haydn Fleury D CAR-14 (1-7) Red Deer (WHL) Tyler Ganly D CAR-13 (6-156) Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Kyle Jenkins D CAR-14 (7-187) Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Patrick McEachen D — Queens (OUAA) Dennis Robertson D TOR-11 (6-173) Brown (NCAA) Josh Wesley D CAR-14 (4-96) Plymouth (OHL)
GOALTENDERS
Daniel Altshuller G CAR-12 (3-69) Oshawa (OHL) Alex Nedeljkovic G CAR-14 (2-37) Plymouth (OHL) * denotes free agent tryout
Detroit Red Wings Roster:
FORWARDS
Andreas Athanasiou C/LW DET-12 (4-110) Barrie (OHL) Tyler Bertuzzi LW DET-13 (2-58) Guelph (OHL) Colin Campbell RW — Lake Superior State (NCAA) Blake Clarke * LW — Saginaw (OHL) Martin Frk RW DET-12 (2-49) Grand Rapids (AHL) Hayden Hodgson * RW — Erie (OHL) Darby Llewellyn * RW — Kitchener (OHL) Anthony Mantha RW DET-13 (1-20) Val-d’Or (QMJHL) Zach Nastasiuk RW DET-13 (2-48) Owen Sound (OHL) Tomas Nosek C — Pardubice (Czech) Brandon Robinson * LW — Kitchener (OHL) Dominic Turgeon C DET-14 (3-63) Portland (WHL) Marek Tvrdon LW DET-11 (4-115) Kelowna (WHL) Jerome Verrier * RW — Drummondville (QMJHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Mattias Backman D DET-11 (5-146) Linkopings (SHL) Joe Hicketts * — Victoria (WHL) Marc McNultyD DET-13 (6-169) Prince George (WHL) Richard Nedomlel D DET-11 (7-175) Toledo (ECHL) Ryan Sproul D DET-11 (2-55) Grand Rapids (AHL) Ty Stanton * D — Medicine Hat (WHL) Mitchell Wheaton DET-13 (5-139) Kelowna (WHL)
GOALTENDERS
Jared Coreau G — Toledo (ECHL) Jake Paterson G DET-12 (3-80) Saginaw (OHL) Lucas Peressini * G — Kingston (OHL) * denotes free agent tryout
Minnesota Wild Roster:
Olivier Archambault * LW MON-11 (4-108) Quebec (QMJHL) Jessey Astles * LW — Tri-City (WHL) Brady Brassart C — Calgary (WHL) Raphael Bussieres LW MIN-12 (2-46) Iowa (AHL) Reid Duke C MIN-14 (6-169) Lethbridge (WHL) Kurtis Gabriel RW MIN-13 (3-81) Owen Sound (OHL) Reid Gardiner * C — Prince Albert (WHL) Ryan Graham * LW — Saskatoon (WHL) Tyler Graovac C MIN-11 (7-191) Iowa (AHL) Pavel Jenys F MIN-14 (7-199) Brno Kometa (Czech) Chase Lang RW MIN-14 (6-167) Calgary (WHL) Zack Mitchell RW — Guelph (OHL) Andrew Ryan * LW — Halifax (QMJHL) Ryan Walters F — Nebraska (NCAA)
DEFENSEMEN
Mathew Dumba D MIN-12 (1-7) Portland (WHL) Tanner Faith D MIN-14 (5-139) Kootenay (WHL) Christian Folin D — U. Mass Lowell (NCAA) Guillaume Gelinas D — Val d’Or (QMJHL) Alex Gudbranson * D — Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Dylan Labbe D MIN-13 (4-107) Shawinigan (QMJHL) Gustav Olofsson D MIN-13 (2-46) Colorado College (NCAA) Hunter Warner D — Fargo (USHL)
GOALTENDERS
Alexandre Belanger G MIN-13 (7-200) Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) Johan Gustafsson G MIN-10 (6-159) Iowa (AHL) Brandon Whitney * G CHI-12 (7-191) Victoriaville (QMJHL) * denotes free agent tryout
Dallas Stars Roster:
Jason Dickinson C DAL-13 (1-29) Guelph (OHL) Remi Elie LW DAL-13 (2-40) Belleville (OHL) Mads Eller * LW — Edmonton (WHL) Radek Faksa C DAL-12 (1-13) Sudbury (OHL) Ludwig Karlsson RW — Elmira (ECHL) Emil Molin LW DAL-11 (4-105) Byrnas (SHL) Matej Paulovic RW DAL-13 (5-149) Muskegon (USHL) Taylor Peters C — Texas (AHL) Brett Pollock C DAL-14 (2-45) Edmonton (WHL) Brendan Ranford LW PHI-10 (7-209) Kamloops (WHL) Brett Ritchie RW DAL-11 (2-44) Texas (AHL) Collin Shirley * LW — Kamloops (WHL) Gemel Smith C DAL-12 (4-104) Owen Sound (OHL) Matej Stransky RW DAL-11 (6-165) Texas (AHL) Branden Troock RW DAL-12 (5-134) Seattle (WHL) Cole Ully LW DAL-13 (5-131) Kamloops (WHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Ludwig Bystrom D DAL-12 (2-43) Farjestads (SHL) Aaron Haydon D DAL-14 (6-154) Niagara (OHL) Julius Honka D DAL-14 (1-14) Swift Current (WHL) Jyrki Jokipakka D DAL-11 (7-195) Texas (AHL) Esa Lindell D DAL-12 (3-74) Jokerit (FIN) Alex Peters D DAL-14 (3-75) Plymouth (OHL) Patrick Sanvido D DAL-14 (7-195) Windsor (OHL) Troy Vance D DAL-11 (5-135) Charlottetown (QMJHL)
GOALTENDERS
Philippe Desrosiers G DAL-13 (2-54) Rimouski (QMJHL) Henri Kiviaho G DAL-12 (5-144) Kalpa (FIN) Brent Moran G DAL-14 (4-115) Niagara (OHL) * denotes free agent tryout
NY Rangers Roster
FORWARDS
Nathan Burns * C — Saskatoon (WHL) Anthony Duclair LW NYR-13 (3-80) Quebec (QMJHL) Ryan Haggerty F — RPI (NCAA) Kevin Hayes F CHI-10 (1-24) Boston College (NCAA) Keegan Iverson C NYR-14 (3-85) Portland (WHL) Michael Kantor RW — Hartford (AHL) Nicklas Latta * C — Sarnia (OHL) Paxton Leroux F — London (OHL) Chris McCarthy F — Vermont (NCAA) Bryan Moore * RW — Sarnia (OHL) Richard Nejezchelb RW NYR-14 (5-122) Brandon (WHL) Logan Nelson * C BUF-12 (5-133) Victoria (WHL) Josh Nicholls RW TOR-10 (7-182) Greenville (ECHL) Adam Tambellini C NYR-13 (3-65) Calgary (WHL)
DEFENSEMEN
Mat Bodie D — Union College (NCAA) Troy Donnay D — Erie (OHL) Ryan Mantha D NYR-14 (4-104) Sioux City (USHL) Samuel Noreau D NYR-11 (5-136) Greenville (ECHL) Dallas Valentine * D — Moose Jaw (WHL) Daniel Walcott D NYR-14 (5-140) Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL) Petr Zamorsky D — HC Zlin (Czech)
GOALTENDERS
Brandon Halverson G NYR-14 (2-59) Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Mackenzie Skapski G NYR-13 (6-170) Kootenay (WHL) * denotes free agent tryout