When it was announced that Evander Kane would be sidelined for the remainder of this NHL season, most media pundits immediately jumped to the conclusion that his expected trade from the Jets would be delayed at least until the 2015 NHL Draft in June.
Not so.
Teams already eliminated from the playoffs have begun to make their interest in Kane known as they, no doubt, see an opportunity to add a high-level NHL asset at a potentially reduced price.
"The Sabres, for one, are definitely interested, according to an NHL source," writes ESPN's Craig Custance. "They could offer a guy like Drew Stafford to help the Jets during their playoff push this season, along with a package of prospects and picks, something of which Buffalo has loads right now."
The Jets are teetering on the edge of the playoff bubble, though their eight-point cushion over the Kings, Wild and Stars seems fairly comfortable at the moment. Still, the addition of Stafford, a big right wing with offensive upside - he has nine goals and 16 assists in 49 games this season - would be an almost perfect fit for the Jets and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff who, with Kane's loss, are now seeking both right and left wingers for the third-line.
For the Sabres, Kane's addition would mean a massive influx of talent, but also a potentially combustible personality to combine with youngsters like Sam Reinhart and Mikhail Grigorenko waiting impatiently in the wings - assuming they aren't shipped out as part of the package for Kane.
"The one thing of which the Sabres have to be careful during their rebuild is that they don't have a million players coming up at the same time and age. Bringing in a 23-year-old like Kane adds another player to build around, but someone a little older and at a different point in his development than the kids drafted last summer and this upcoming summer," writes Custance.
The Sabres, with three first-round draft picks in the 2015 NHL Draft and leading the charge in the Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel sweepstakes and already boasting a good number of young, not-quite-NHL-ready talents, swapping out Stafford for a younger player with a much higher ceiling in Kane could be a major coup for GM Tim Murray.
This article has been edited.
