Joined: Jun. 2017
Posts: 28
Likes: 7
There may not be anyone available this year of a higher profile than Kane, but I think there should be players available who will be better fits than Kane. I don't see a fit here for him.
Patrick Kane at 33 years old is still one of the best passers and playmakers in the game. When the puck is on his stick on the other team's side of the ice, something good is probably going to happen.
He is also quite simply atrocious defensively. One of the worst defensive forwards in the NHL. When the puck isn't on his stick, he is very easy to play against. For many teams, that's fine. The offense outweighs the defensive faults. I don't see that for the CGY Flames.
The Flames team identity is *supposed* to be a team that is very hard to play against, forechecks hard, wears you down, and generates high shot volumes. Right now, the Flames are not playing at all into that identity. The Flames right now are a mess defensively and very easy to play against. Patrick Kane would add some much needed offence, sure. He also doesn't fit the identity of this team at all and would exacerbate their already baffling defensive woes.
Not to mention---right now 70% of Kane's production is coming on the Powerplay. The PP isn't great, but think 5v5 needs help far more than the PP1 does right now.
On top of all that, Kane has full control over where he gets traded and when. He's got full No-Move protections. If he doesn't want to go to the CGY, he's not going. If he doesn't want to go anywhere until TDL, he's not. He's likely a pure rental you might not even be able to add, and if you do it could only be for a couple months.
I think there will be players available throughout the year that will be (a) better stylistic fits than P. Kane, (b) cheaper to add, both in terms of acquisition cost and in terms of cap hits, (c) will be made available before Kane will be, and (d) might not be pure rentals.