I Am Not Starting A Evander Kane Rumour

During the tail end last Bob McKenzie's pre-game appearance on TSN1200 last night, the topic moved towards two young stars in Canadian markets who may now be available:

AJ: "And you also reported on Insider Trading about the possible availability of guys like Max Pacioretty and Evander Kane. Those would be two pretty tantalizing players out on the market, if teams could get them. What about that possibility?

McKenzie: Yeah I think, certainly in Montreal the slow start Pacioretty had prompted a lot of teams to call and say, 'hey, maybe he needs a change of scenery'. Mark Bergevin's adamant that they're not shopping him, but they're most certainly listening. So therefore, it's a name that seems to be in play, a lot of teams are calling about him. I don't know that it's got that far with Evander Kane in Winnipeg. But I know from talking to a lot of NHL teams, that they're keeping an eye on the situation – that they sense there's an uneasy relationship between Evander Kane and head coach Claude Noel and the coaching staff there. Um, and that maybe Kane is not entirely comfortable in Winnipeg. I can tell you that he hasn't asked for a trade, I can tell you that the Jets aren't shopping him, but it's one of those ones where it's not a red flag or a blue light special if you will. But the yellow light is flashing a little bit in terms of of caution because, where there's smoke there is sometimes fire. So again, I'm not saying the Ottawa Senators have called on Evander Kane 'cause I have no knowledge that they have. But I would imagine if he were to become available, that that might be the kind of player that a team like the Ottawa Senators would be looking at. But again, finances in Ottawa are paramount right now in terms of maintaining the budget."

Below is what plays in my brain whenever the obligatory budget caveat is tacked on to any Sens trade discussion.



Putting aside whether we believe the Sens have the loonies to make a big trade like this (doubtful), and what it would cost in assets (many). Instead I'm just going to numerate the reasons why it makes sense for the Sens to pursue Kane:

1. He just turned 22 in August, with a 30 goal season to his name already.

2. He's fast and big, but also really fast

3. He's averaged 4.0 shots a game for the past three years, all the while playing without a true number one center.

4. Sens have had success acquiring somewhat gruntled forwards (not named Nikita) drafted in the top ten

5. He's locked up on a good contract through 2017-18 making 6M$ per (5.25AAV).

6. He's shooting 6.7% at the moment so his value is probably lower than it should be.

7. He once did this to an Ottawa supervillian.

So in conclusion this probably isn't happening…but it would be nice if it did.

Reminder that in the early hours of free agency (just prior to the Bobby Ryan trade) SensChirp had this:

Tysen's Mission to a Million… 

The Ottawa Senators through the Make-A-Wish Foundations are having two wish kids drop the ceremonial first puck tonight. One of these kids is a huge Sens fan named Tysen and you may have heard or seen his story making the rounds in the news recently. 

Last year Tysen was told that he was eligible for a wish thanks to he Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario and as a result, he had to chance to fly to California to meet Adam Sandler. 

After meeting the actor/comedian, Tysen was inspired to help and give back to others, so he decided to create 'Tysen's Mission to a Million'. 

Essentially what Tysen wants to do is raise $1 million so that 100 other kids can have an opportunity to have experiences like the one he had meeting Adam Sandler. 

So if you would like to read more about Tysen, his mission or make a donation, you can do so by visiting his website at http://missiontoamillion.ca