NHL Rumor Mill – August 22, 2022
NHL Rumor Mill – August 22, 2022
What would it take for the Oilers to acquire Patrick Kane? Will Paul Stastny return to the Jets or sign elsewhere? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT WOULD IT COST THE OILERS TO LAND PATRICK KANE?
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Kurt Leavins speculates Patrick Kane could consider playing alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Drasaitl with the Oilers to be more enticing than his present situation with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.
Leavins suggests it will cost “a player, a #1 pick and a good prospect, plus-plus” to acquire Kane as a rental player no matter where he goes. Sorting out the salary-cap dollars would also be an issue. The 34-year-old Blackhawks winger carries a $10.5 million cap hit for the coming season and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The real question for Leavins is whether Kane (an American) would be willing to come to Edmonton for even just one season. He pointed out the Blackhawks star has the same agent as Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto and Cody Ceci.
OILERS NATION: Jason Gregor considers Kane’s contract “very easy” to trade, pointing out he’s only earning $2.9 million in actual salary for the coming season. The Blackhawks would have to retain 50 percent of his $10.5 million cap hit in a trade.
Gregor believes the Oilers can’t afford to acquire the remaining 50 percent. He believes they’d have to get a third team involved, pointing out the Arizona Coyotes are “always willing to take on money for draft picks”.
Under that scenario, the Oilers would only take on $2.65 million of his cap hit and $725K in actual salary. Gregor speculates it would cost the Oilers a late-round pick and a second-tier prospect to the Coyotes to make it work.
As for what the Blackhawks would want from the Oilers, he suggests Jesse Puljujarvi or Warren Foegele would have to head to Chicago to make the cap work for Edmonton. He wonders if a first-round pick, a second-rounder and Puljujarvi would be enough, assuming Kane would accept a trade to the Oilers.
THE BOSTON GLOBE: Matt Porter wondered if a first-round pick, a prospect, winger Kailer Yamamoto and “overpaid defenseman Tyson Barrie” would get it done.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kane alongside McDavid or Draisaitl would give the Oilers two devastating forward lines that could power them to the Stanley Cup. Acquiring him, however, won’t be easy.
Reports out of Chicago claim Kane has not requested a trade and isn’t in any rush to leave the Blackhawks. He and Jonathan Toews could see how this season shakes out before deciding if they want to be traded to a potential Stanley Cup contender.
A Kane trade could happen before the start of this season. However, I think it’s more likely to occur closer to the trade deadline. That will ramp up the bidding and also give Kane and the Blackhawks a clearer picture of the potential markets for his services
The Oilers wouldn’t be the only team interested in Kane if he becomes available in the trade market. The New York Rangers, for example, need an experienced right wing among their top-six scorers. If Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko fail to break out this season, the Blueshirts could be in a good position to win a bidding war for Kane.
WHERE WILL STASTNY GO?
SPORTSNET: In a recent mailbag segment, Ken Wiebe was asked by a reader if Paul Stastny was coming back to the Jets and if not, why?
Wiebe thinks the door is not officially closed for a return to the Jets but feels it’s increasingly likely the 36-year-old center will move on. He believes Stastny wants to get his name on the Stanley Cup, suggesting a return to the Colorado Avalanche (where his NHL career began) makes a lot of sense given Stastny’s hockey sense and versatility.