The Vancouver Canucks may be tenuously grasping a playoff spot, but that won't stop them from making a potential trade deadline addition most assumed was already off the table.
The Canucks, according to the latest NHL trade rumor, this from the illustrious Bob McKenzie of TSN, are "at the top of" a list of a small handful of playoff contenders still very interested in trading for embattled Winnipeg Jets forward, Evander Kane.
The Canucks (29-19-3) are currently in possession of one of two Western Conference Wild Card playoff spots. They're 6-4-0 in their last 10 and while GM Jim Benning and new head coach Willie Desjardins are thinking postseason, they may be preparing to act in a more long-term manner.
"The Canucks want to make the playoffs, make no mistake. But the new regime of general manager Jim Benning also knows as important as it is to stay competitive and strive for playoffs, there's a long-range vision, too, and getting a 23-year-old Kane fits into that plan," writes McKenzie.
Acquiring a player of Kane's physical talents - even if he has been frustratingly inconsistent and mentally erratic for the most part thus far in his young NHL career - won't be easy or cheap.
"The rub, though, is Winnipeg is sure to want a package that includes one of the Canucks' best young prospects - centre Bo Horvat and/or Jake Virtanen - and that's a non-starter for Vancouver. Is there a package that includes a Canuck roster player and a different prospect (Jared McCann, for example) that might intrigue the Jets?"
If Horvat and Virtanen - two young, first-round picks taken in back-to-back NHL Drafts - are non-starters, it's difficult to envision Benning giving up McCann - another first-round pick in the 2014 draft - either.
With the failed Zach Kassian experiment still hanging like a dead weight around the Canucks' collective necks, perhaps he could become part of a package that sees Kane come home to Vancouver.
