Despite the New York Rangers pulling off a blockbuster deal for Vladimir Tarasenko earlier this month there are rumblings that a deal for future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Kane is not out of the question before the NHL trade deadline.
The New York Rangers have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the last month, and new acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko has been a part of that strong play by scoring four points and being a plus-4 during his six games with the team.
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Following the Feb. 10 deal that sent the St. Louis Blues forward Sammy Blais, prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and a fourth-round pick in 2024, it was assumed that the Rangers were unlikely to swing another major move. Especially not one for Chicago Blackhawks great Patrick Kane, a player who reportedly has New York at the top of his potential trade destinations wish list.
After the New York Rangers acquired Tarasenko, Kane even seemed openly frustrated after the move when he said “it is what it is” about a possible trade to New York seeming less likely. However, a new report may give Kane some hope that a trade with the Rangers is not yet dead.
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New York Rangers interest in Patrick Kane ‘has not waned in the slightest’
On Monday, New York Post NHL insider Larry Brooks claimed in a new column that the Rangers’ interest in the nine-time All-Star “has not waned in the slightest” since the trade earlier this month. However, he also made it clear the team has very little wiggle room to add Patrick Kane’s contract since they only have just under a million dollars in cap space ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
With that in mind, he did lay out a potential pathway for the team to still get a deal done. The plot would first have to start with cutting Vitali Kravtsov and his $2 million contract for this season off the payroll. Since he has been a healthy scratch often recently and has not garnered much interest on the trade market.
Brooks then explains the next necessary steps in the scenario. “Add [the $2 million] to the original $909,000, that gives you around $2.9M, you get the Blackhawks to retain half of Kane’s $10.5M cap hit, you get another team to take half of the resulting $5.25M and voila.”
The New York Post NHL writer is honest in explaining that making a Patrick Kane trade happen would be very difficult and could require giving up assets the New York Rangers do not want to part with. However, with the top six teams in the NHL all being from the East, including the Rangers, it may take a trade for the still-talented 34-year-old to give the team a legitimate chance to reach the Stanley Cup in 2023.