Although the New York Rangers already traded for high profile right winger Vladimir Tarasenko, the team is reportedly still working hard to add Chicago Blackhawks' superstar Patrick Kane ahead of the postseason.
The Rangers sat both Vitali Kravstov and Jake Leschyshyn against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night for “roster management reasons,” meaning they are working to stay under the NHL Salary Cap so they could potentially accommodate Kane's $10.5 million cap hit, according to the New York Post.
The Hawks star has been on a tear as of late, compiling ten points in his last four games, including a hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs this week.
Kane was visibly disappointed after Tarasenko went to the Rangers, and it seems more and more clear that New York might be the only team, if not one of two or three squads that he will be willing to waive his no-move clause to be dealt to.
“In order to fit the 34-year-old Kane at 25 percent of his full salary cap hit, not only would the Hawks have to retain 50 percent of his $10.5 million cap hit, while a third team acts as a banker and takes 50 percent of what remains, but also the Rangers would have to waive another player,” wrote Mollie Walker of the NYP on Thursday.
It's certainly a complicated situation, but if the Rangers could somehow make it work, they would boast maybe the most fearsome top six in the game of hockey.
Add Kane to a forward group of Tarasenko, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck and the Rangers will be primed for another deep playoff run.
On Thursday evening, NYI Hockey Now reported that not only are the Rangers still interested in him, but that “a Patrick Kane trade to the Rangers is happening as a framework for the deal is being hammered out.”
It's an intriguing and fluid situation, that will likely come to a conclusion well before the NHL's Trade Deadline on Mar. 3.