On Buffalo Sabres …
Igor Eronko: Viktor Antipin confirms that he will sign with the Sabres in a couple days.
Pierre LeBrun: Coaches on the Sabres radar: Krueger, Tocchet, J. Montgomery, J. Martin, Housley, Reirden, Boughner.
Jimmy Murphy: Source that has knowledge of the Evander Kane situation “News to me” with regards to a rumor that the Boston Bruins are in the mix for Evander Kane.
Jimmy Murphy: Same source saying that the Sabres are definitely listening to talk on Kane and others. New GM Jason Botterill is still evaluating.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Evander Kane has one-year left on his six-year, $31.5 million deal. Teams would be interested in Kane’s scoring ability and Darren Dreger was asked on WGR 550 if new GM Jason Botterill would give their next head coach a say if Kane remains with the Sabres.
“Yeah, I would think that would make sense,” agreed Dreger. “We’ve talked about this before. Evander Kane is an interesting individual. Provided he stays focused, he’s a hell of a hockey player. And in that, there’s always going to be trade interest in Evander Kane. It’s what the expected rate of return is.”
Dreger doesn’t think that while Tim Murray was the GM he pushed hard to trade Kane. Dreger adds that it didn’t sound like the Sabres put Kane’s name on the trade market at the trade deadline, and there weren’t a lot of calls for him.
What return could the Sabres get for Kane?
Dreger notes that teams are being very careful on how they spend their money and they want to be sure that a player is going to worth it.
“If that team is out there, then what is the market for him. What is the rate of return. It’s going to be a fairly substantial draft pick, I would say, certainly upwards of second round. Maybe there’s a player that has to fit in there as well. But that’s just kind of my broad speculation.
“Since he’s been traded from Winnipeg to Buffalo, I’ve never heard of a package that’s been thrown Buffalo’s way. So we’re playing a bit of a guessing game here.”
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on 630 CHED and was talking about Evander Kane.
“But when I spoke to Botterill he wouldn’t talk about Kane specifically. But I did get the sense from talking to some other teams like Buffalo was looking at it like, ‘We have to decide now. Are we extending him or not. Because if we’re not, maybe we have to move him.’ “
The Vancouver Canucks and Evander Kane have long been in the trade rumors.
“Vancouver is always a possibility,” said Friedman when asked. “I know that rumor has always been out there and Vancouver could definitely use some scoring. I don’t know specific teams at this point in time. But I do believe that Botterill’s decision is either, ‘We do it or we move.’
“I don’t know if they want to go in next season with him unsigned because every day that you have a player like that, they’re depreciating as an asset.“