NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman on free agent forward Patrick Kane and where the best fit may be.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Tony Luftman: “Elliotte, one more before we let you go, Patrick Kane. We know that he’s meeting with teams. That he’s going to return somewhat soon.
Anything new on where you think he could eventually end up?”
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Friedman: “Well, I think that he met with about eight to 10 teams via zoom or last week, and I think those were things about fit and what it would look like for him?
I think he’s going to start, I think he’s really trying to narrow it down. You know, the one thing I’m very careful about is, you know, last week I heard it might go down to two, three, it didn’t.
I do think we’re getting closer. I think that day is getting upon us. The teams I consistently hear about are eastern teams. I think there’s a concern about what the West and travel will do to him. I think there are teams in the West are interested.
And the other thing is, like the most aggressive team I really believe has been Florida. I think that they’ve really tried to be hard on this. But Florida doesn’t have the ability to offer much of a contract, and they might want to do like a one-year, short-term deal and then see where it goes. I think Florida could be a perfect place for Patrick Kane. I’m just not sure that he likes that kind of a one-year, lower-number setup.
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So I look at Buffalo. I look at Detroit. I, did talk to Toronto, I don’t see that as likely. But I still think Florida, Detroit, and Buffalo have kind of been the three teams I’ve been focused on. And until I’m proven wrong, I’m gonna think it’s one of those three. Which means, which means I’m probably going to end up being wrong.”