TSN: Darren Dreger said that Patrick Kane is nearing a decision after meeting with several teams face-to-face and some by Zoom.
“As many as eight clubs initially involved, the agent Pat Brisson will start circling back to clubs to tell them that they’re out, that hasn’t happened yet, when a final decision is made. You’re right, Gino, it was expected that it would be made early this week, but again it’s a difficult one as Kane looks over all of these options, given that it’s U.S. Thanksgiving week. If it doesn’t happen this week, then perhaps it happens early next week.”
Daily Faceoff: Frank Seravalli when asked about the latest on Patrick Kane. A decision nears.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Colby Cohen: “Everyone’s talking about Patrick Kane. We saw you’ve written some articles about it. Little bits have been trickling out, umors, people thinking they know where he’s gonna go.
So tell us, where’s PK going? What’s the latest?”
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Seravalli: “It’s a good question. I don’t have a firm answer for you. But what I can tell you is the timeline. Certainly seems like by the end of this week, just after US Thanksgiving, we will have an answer from Patrick Kane.
He has wrapped up his training in Toronto, and his the rehabs over, he’s ready to go. I’m told his lateral movement has been exceptional from those who have seen him. He appears to be fully healthy after that hip surgery, which certainly is in depth.
And here’s the thing, the teams that I’ve spoken to in the last 24 to 48 hours, none of them have gotten a sense or told that they’re out of the mix just yet. So some of the teams that he has met with and/or talk to in the last two weeks include the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres, the Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, among others.
I know he met with the Leafs last Monday in Toronto before they ended up flying to Stockholm. I think the Leafs are probably on the periphery and the outside.
Detroit there’s been that, you know, sort of interest of can he link up with Alex DeBrincat again? Not sure that the Redwings really want to break up that line. So that kind of question mark hangs in the balance.
Will he go home to Buffalo? Help them and their playoff drought.
But I can tell you that there’s a lot of teams, Colby, wondering are the Florida Panthers the front-runner for Patrick Kane services. You see the start that they’re off to, they very well may be of that group the best chance for Patrick Kane to chase a fourth career Stanley Cup this season. You see how dynamic their offense has been carrying that team without their top two defenseman in Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad, who are both now coming back to the lineup. You could see this Florida Panthers team take off and there seems to be some thought that the Panthers could be a multi-year destination that Patrick Kane may not have to sign for just one year, That it could be a multi-year deal, or at least the potential of that down the line with their cap space clearing up