On the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres…
The Fourth Period: Sources say that while Sabres winger Evander Kane could be an option for the Kings, he may not be at the top of their list. The asking price for Kane could change that though.
The Kings may not be interested in trading Jake Muzzin for a player who has one year left on his contract, but they could be willing to move Alec Martinez or Brayden McNabb.
The Kings would like to add a top-six forward this offseason.
Potential targets could include Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene (COL), James van Riemsdyk (TOR), Chris Kreider (NYR), Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat (TB).
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: Trade speculation around Evander Kane grows, with the LA Kings and Vancouver Canucks as the likeliest teams involved.
Kane has a year left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit.
The Sabres need help on the blueline. The Canucks have Chris Tanev, with the Kings having Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez.
Sabres owner Terry Pegula has been big on character lately and hasn’t been impressed with Kane’s past behavior.
Taking Kane’s scoring out of the lineup would create a hole as they don’t have a lot of scorers in the organization.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on the NHL Network was asked if Evander Kane was on the trade block and what could the Sabres get for him if he’s available.
Freidman said that the LA Kings could be the most interested team in Kane. Vancouver has been on and off in the past year.
“A couple of things I can’t pin down about the Kings. No. 1, are they talking about him as a one-year rental, or are they looking at him to sign him to an extension. He’s eligible for an extension as of July 1. And secondly, I think Buffalo is willing to do a lot of things as long as a defenseman comes back. I just wonder – if they’re looking for a defenseman, is that what they’re talking about with the Kings. But I think they’re very interested.
“I think it’s also possible that there might be other teams that get involved and say, ‘Let’s see how it goes and if we’re not in the playoffs or we don’t think we can sign him long term, can we flip him for another asset at the deadline.’
