Patrick Kane could easily wind up playing for the Buffalo Sabres at some point as his iconic career winds down. But it won’t be this season.
Buffalo Sabres fan or not, you have to give general manager Kevyn Adams credit. This man came to the Queen City with a plan and he did not deviate from it. Under Adams, the Sabres have gone from the NHL’s cellar dweller to becoming mildly competitive in his first three seasons with the team. And now, they are making their first playoff push for the first time in about a thousand years. Or so it feels.
While it makes sense for many top contenders to trade for “rentals” at the moment, it makes zero sense for the Sabres. They’re mildly competitive with the league’s youngest team, but not necessarily in the thick of taking the Atlantic Division. That said, a 34-year-old whose career is on the decline isn’t going to help them get there this season.
In 46 games this season, Kane has just 35 points, or 0.76 points per game. When you do the math, that’s 0.45 points less than last season. No, rookies J.J. Peterka and Jack Quinn aren’t quite there yet, but they give the Sabres a better chance of sustaining long-term success than Patrick Kane ever would.
Buffalo Sabres shouldn’t even consider trading for Patrick Kane
Kane’s contract expires following the season. And even if the Sabres were to extend the 34-year-old beyond 2022-23, why would the give up some of their young assets when young assets spent the last five seasons slowly but surely turning this team around?
The asking price for Kane would likely take either a high-end Sabres prospect, at least one rookie like J.J. Peterka or Jack Quinn, plus a first-round draft pick. Hey, I know they are two entirely different sports, but doesn’t that sound eerily similar of what the Denver Broncos did in the NFL last offseason when they traded for Russell Wilson, who turned out to be a shell of his former self?
As mentioned, young assets have spent the past five seasons turning the Sabres around. Those assets even include players drafted before the Adams era began. Let’s meet them:
- Zemgus Girgensons
- Casey Mittelstadt
- Rasmus Dahlin
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
- Dylan Cozens
- Jack Quinn
- J.J. Peterka
- Mattias Samuelsson
- Owen Power
All of the above players are still in their 20s. They also made a few trades in the process. But it didn’t involve trading for a player in their 16th NHL season. Those players included:
- Tage Thompson
- Peyton Krebs
- Alex Tuch
- Jeff Skinner
- Henri Jokiharju
They also picked up Tyson Jost off the waiver wire. So if building through young talent has this team on the outside and looking in to the playoffs, it would make far more sense to trade for Timo Meier than it would Kane.
While I’m not hot on the potential Meier trade because of the chemistry this young team has already built and must continue to build before you add a puzzle piece like that, I’d be far more willing to trade for the 25-year-old over a 34-year-old Kane.
So what would make sense? The Sabres add Kane in free agency if they feel they have the cash. He will likely go to a top three team in the East this season, but the odds of them keeping him around are between slim and none in the interest of cap space. Kane won’t command an AAV of $10 million in what will likely be his final NHL contract, but he will still take up some space.
Article Source: Would Patrick Kane want to play for the Sabres? by Kyle Graden
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