There’s little doubt that Buffalo GM Tim Murray has shown a penchant for making bold decisions during his tenure with the Sabres. As Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News writes, Murray may be headed for another of those decisions when it comes to winger Evander Kane.
Kane pled not guilty earlier this week to charges of misdemeanor criminal trespass, non-criminal disorderly conduct, and four counts of non-criminal harassment. He was also previously charged with assault although that suit was later dropped. However, Gleason notes that Kane seems to have a penchant for finding trouble which has to be a concern for the Sabres.
Murray gave up a considerable amount to Winnipeg back in February of 2015, including defenseman Tyler Myers plus wingers Drew Stafford and Joel Armia as part of a package that also landed Buffalo blueliner Zach Bogosian. However, given the off-ice concerns and the fact that Kane has not yet become the top liner the team was hoping he would, it’s unlikely that a Kane trade would yield anywhere near the type of value Buffalo gave up to get him just 18 months ago.
Even if Murray can’t get top value, Gleason suggests that he should still consider trading him for a lesser return under the concept of addition by subtraction. Doing so would certainly be a bold move but the Buffalo GM hasn’t hesitated to make those types of deals yet so there’s little reason to think he’d do so now.
More from around the league:
- Defenseman Kris Russell remains the most prominent of the remaining unrestricted free agents. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Russell’s camp is still waiting for some interested teams to free up some cap space. It’s believed that Russell is still seeking a multi-year deal around the $4MM per year range but that may be a challenge at this stage of free agency. Regardless, it appears the 29 year old blueliner is content to play the waiting game for now. Dreger doesn’t mention any specific suitors but we took a look earlier at some teams that could potentially have a spot for Russell on their back end.
- In an interview with KFAN 100.3 in Minnesota (and transcribed by Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot), Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau expects newly-signed center Eric Staal to play between Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle to start next season. Boudreau also noted that Parise told him that he is fully healthy after missing the postseason with a back injury. Parise is slated to suit up for Team USA at next month’s World Cup of Hockey.