Kane may be declining as a player
I have heard some express their belief that Kane will help the Sabres make the playoffs from both fans and media pundits. But Kane hasn’t been to the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. His lone appearance? The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when COVID-19 forced the NHL to adopt a contingency plan in which it became almost anyone’s chance to win the Cup.
As noted, Kane’s numbers are already declining, despite his 92-point outing. One of the arguments you often see pro-Kane supporters make is that he scored 24 points than the highest-scoring member of the Buffalo Sabres last season, Tage Thompson.
But I digress. While Kane indeed scored more often, his 9.1 shooting percentage is alarming. Let’s look at some of the Sabres top scorers from just a season ago:
- Tage Thompson: 15.0%
- Jeff Skinner: 12.6%
- Victor Olofsson: 12.2%
- Kyle Okposo: 12.1%
It isn’t until you get to Alex Tuch, 8.6%, do you find a top-scoring forward on the Sabres with a lower shooting percentage. Further, Thompson and Skinner accumulated more goals, 38 and 33, respectively, than Kane, who logged 26.
To be fair, Kane did tie his career-high in assists with 66, something no one on the Sabres came close to reaching, with Rasmus Dahlin leading the team with 40. This tells me that he can definitely still play. But looking at his overall statistics, it is clear that Kane is not the player he once was and would need to pair with dynamic scorers to be a worthwhile member of the Sabres.
Article Source: Sabres Could Use Kane but the Cost Could Be Too High by Keiran Bray