The Buffalo Sabres may consider moving on from Evander Kane if they are able to obtain a reasonable trade offer.
First off, I’d like to start this post off by stating that I would prefer we hold onto Evander Kane for at least this season leading up to the trade deadline. At this point in time while Kane certainly still holds some decent value as a player, his notoriety may end up reducing his perceived trade value to the rest of the league. All of this may come down to the fact that Terry and Kim Pegula are revitalizing the Buffalo Sports industry and may not want the image they’re building tarnished by a player’s poor reputation.
Without further rambling, let’s get into some of the options that may fall within the realm of possibility….
Option 1 – The Buffalo Sabres trade Evander Kane (with $2.5 million retained) –> the Vancouver Canucks for Sven Baerschi and a conditional 2017 1st round pick. The condition is based upon the Canucks making the playoffs, if they do not the pick turns into a 2nd rounder.
Analysis – Evander Kane may enjoy the option of playing for his hometown NHL team and the Vancouver Canucks fans would certainly appreciate the addition of a power forward that is a proven goal scorer. The Buffalo Sabres would need to retain a fairly significant amount of salary for this to work as the Vancouver Canucks have limited cap space. In return the Sabres are able to acquire a solid young NHL player with some potential and a 1st/2nd round pick depending on how the Canucks finish the season.
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Option 2 – The Buffalo Sabres trade Evander Kane –> the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi
Analysis – The young Coyotes GM could be intrigued by Evander Kane’s solid Corsi numbers, while Max Domi’s Corsi numbers are not quite as favorable. Evander Kane is only 3 years older than Max Domi and this trade could allow him to thrive in a less traditional hockey market. The Buffalo Sabres may need to retain some salary to make this deal work as the Coyotes are a budget team. This trade would help the Sabres ease away from the salary cap in the short term and add a younger player with significant upside who has proven success in the past with Sam Reinhart during the World Juniors.
Option 3 – The Buffalo Sabres trade Evander Kane and Hudson Fasching –> the Carolina Hurricanes for Jeff Skinner and Sebastian Aho.
Analysis – This is a fairly significant trade with a lot of talent being moved from both ends. Carolina may be of the mindset to shake up their roster after failing to make the playoffs again and could be intrigued by the idea of getting bigger/stronger with the addition of Evander Kane. This trade lives up to the statement that you have to give up talent to get talent. The Buffalo Sabres may have a tough time letting go of Hudson Fasching, however with the new motto of speed and skill being emphasized more and more by our GM I could potentially see a trade like this happening.
Option 4 – The Buffalo Sabres trade Evander Kane, Casey Nelson, and 2 2nd round picks –> the St. Louis Blues for Kevin Shattenkirk and Robby Fabbri.
Analysis – Another major trade with quite a few moving parts. I was tempted to throw in some considerations around this offer, but decided to leave it as is. The St. Louis Blues are looking to do whatever possible to get further in the playoffs and with the departure of David Backes could be looking to add another forward that combines size and goal scoring ability. The Blues would also acquire a RHD with potential as well as some fairly high draft picks in this trade. The Buffalo Sabres would add a highly skilled RHD to their lineup, while also being able to lessen the load on Rasmus Ristolainen and effective manage the minutes that Cody Franson would have to play. Robby Fabbri would be a solid acquisition as well, he showed a good amount of success playing in the NHL last season and has the potential to develop further. The final result of this trade would hinge on whether or not the Sabres are able to sign Shattenkirk long term as this is the final year on his current contract.
I hope you enjoyedf reading my trade proposals, although some may be a bit more far-fetched than others. Please let me know your feedback in the comments section, and I would be most interested to hear any additional trade ideas you would be willing to suggest. Also, I just wanted to say thank you for the support you’ve shown thus far; I appreciate all of the positive responses and feedback being a new contributor to this site.