On the San Jose Sharks …
Kevin Kurz: A source believes that Evander Kane was wanting to go to the West Coast. That could be a good sign if the Sharks are looking to re-sign him this offseason.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: The Sharks were one of the teams that showed interest in Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson.
On the Buffalo Sabres …
David Shoalts: “Big problem with player with baggage like Evander Kane is the market is limited. Only a team that is both in contention and has a strong dressing room would be interested. And that team knows few others are bidding.”
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: Sabres GM Jason Botterill said that he only received one legitimate trade offer for Evander Kane – the one from the Sharks.
Botterill apparently wasn’t able to “get a bag of pucks” (Harrington’s words and not Botterill’s) for Benoit Pouliot or Josh Gorges.
Harrington: “Botterill insisted it was a “difficult market” for rentals. Even though St. Louis got a first-rounder from Winnipeg for Paul Stastny, who is six years older and hasn’t scored 20 goals in a season since 2014. What the Sabres got for Kane is pennies on the dollar.”
Botterill said the decision to move Kane was solely on him and management and not ownership.
“The bottom line is we’re working in a salary cap world,” Botterill said. “You understand what we have on the books for some contracts that are still here, you also understand what contracts are coming into the mix starting next year. You also have seen our mix on the ice and I’m not putting the blame all on Evander Kane. There’s a lot of blame to go around. Coaching staff, management, players. We have to be better in certain situations. The bottom line is the mix that we have right now is not working. So we had to make adjustments.”