On the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues …
Amar Basi: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet said that at the 2015 NHL draft, the Blues and Sharks were talking trade involving the Sharks 9th overall pick. The Blues were willing to trade Kevin Shattenkirk and TJ Oshie for Tomas Hertl and the No. 9 pick. Sharks GM Doug Wilson changed his mind when Timo Meier was still available at No. 9.
On Evander Kane and the San Jose Sharks …
Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic: Pending UFA forward Evander Kane seems to have fit in nicely with the Sharks since being acquired at the trade deadline.
If Kane gets to free agency, would have to believe his hometown Vancouver Canucks would be interested along with the Sharks.
With Joel Ward and Jannik Hansen’s combined $5.775 million coming off the books, and Joe Thornton possibly taking less than $8 million, the Sharks will have plenty of room for Kane’s potential salary.
The Sharks could buy out the last year of Paul Martin’s $4.85 million contract.
Pending RFAs who will get small raises but won’t break the bank include Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo.
If Kane signs with the Sharks, the Buffalo Sabres will get a first-round pick, a second-rounder if he doesn’t.
Chris Nichols of FRSHockey: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1040 and was talking about Evander Kane. There will definitely be teams interested in Kane if he hits free agency.
“But where it gets a little dicey, I believe, is obviously Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent. This is going to be his opportunity to close out his career with term and with decent money. And be it San Jose or any team with interest – and there’ll be teams, of course, that are interested in Evander Kane. I think enough time has passed whereby we’ll never forget some of the stuff he was involved with, but from a hockey standpoint I think he’s cleaned things up and he’s proved that he is and can be a very impactful power forward.
“But what’s that term: Is it six years, is it seven years. If it’s four or five, I think the market grows considerably in terms of the interest in Kane.”
On TSN 690 Dreger added that he believes the lingering history that Kane has will impact the term he gets on his next deal. The money side of things won’t be an issue.
