Mark Lazerus of The Athletic: Chicago Blackhawks forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi could intrigue some teams before the trade deadline.
Moving Jonathan Toews at $10.5 million may need a third team involved. The Colorado Avalanche could use some help down the middle.
The more Blackhawks lose, the more likely Patrick Kane will want to move on. Kane would rather not discuss the situation.
Do believe that Kane would like to remain with the Blackhawks but now feels that it won’t happen. Kane isn’t scoring at his usual pace and things seem to be weighing on him. It doesn’t look like he’s having fun.
Many feel that he’ll end up with the New York Rangers. Will he want to rejoin Artemi Panarin? Would playing beside Mathew Barzal interest him? What about playing in Colorado or Edmonton?
Scott Power and Arthur Staple of The Athletic: The New York Rangers could be one of the teams interested in adding Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause.
It seems that Kane’s time with the Blackhawks will be coming to an end and he’ll probably be talking to GM Kyle Davidson sooner than later.
“Right now, it’s not really at that point yet, like kind of making a decision of what’s going to come up,” Kane said. “Obviously, I think, sooner rather than later, there’s going to have to be discussions and probably talk with (Blackhawks general manager) Kyle (Davidson) and talk with my agent, yeah, figure things out. But I don’t think we’re at the point yet where you start having those discussions about where you want to play next or where you could possibly go. It’s probably in the future.”
The Blackhawks will likely have to retain 50 percent of his salary, and will be looking for a first-round pick and prospect for him.
The Rangers don’t have the cap room now, but they’ll be accruing space after trading Ryan Reaves.
The Rangers have the pieces that the Blackhawks will be looking for. They have their own first-round pick, as well as the Dallas Stars from the Nils Lundkvist trade. GM Chris Drury may want to keep prospect Brennan Othmann, but Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov were high picks but haven’t lived up to the billing just yet.