Friedman is reporting the Rangers WERE the team Kane would wind up on, but now growing less and less likely with the direction they're heading. It's also possible Kane simply stays. It's clearly going to take a situation where Kane believes he has a real shot of winning.

So the question is, what teams make the most sense? Not the teams YOU want him to go to. Now, be making sense, I mean which teams have the right assets, the ability to afford him and/or rental contracts they can send back to CHI (Chicago will likely have to retain and take back a player since most contending teams won't have the space) and have a real shot to content. Non-Ranger teams since they're fading as the front-runner. Here are my picks...

Dallas - They're killing it right now, they have a little over $1M in space and a player or two they can ship out, like Gurianov and Glendenning. Do they have the attractive futures though? I don't know enough about their picks or who'd they be willing to move, and they don't have a 1st rounder until 2024. That said, I could see them making sense of the futures they have to offer work for CHI.

Edmonton - If I'm correct, Kane is out for the season? Edmonton has the space without sending an unnecessary player back to CHI. They 1sts and 2nds to offer up. Unfortunately I don't think they have the prospects to offer, but, Puljujarvi or Yamamoto could make some sense. Are they a serious contender? They'll make the playoffs for sure and Kane could view himself as the player that takes them over the hump.

Boston - I can see them figuring out a way to make it happen. Clearly a contender and while they don't have the space, they have players they could send back to CHI to make it happen, i.e. Foligno. I think where trouble in paradise comes in is futures. They're flush with top prospects, so will they be willing to move any of the ones they have?

Toronto - This could come down to how much LTIR they could use. They definitely a few rental players they could send back to free up room. Futures? So so. A little better than Boston, but are they willing to part with any to make this happen?

From a Dallas perspective, I can't see them making any moves to get Kane. Their cap is already pretty tight and Nill has been very reluctant to trade away any prospects during his tenure.

Glendening is a coaching favorite, so he's likely staying, and probably not the type of player Chicago is looking for. Gurianov is also likely reaching the tail end of his NHL career. He's been very inconsistent and has yet to put it all together at the NHL level, which is unfortunate as he's a hard worker and has some nice skill. I could see a team maybe giving him a fresh start, but probably not at his current salary. I can't see him having much value at the trade deadline.

And like you mentioned, Dallas is light on draft picks this year, and that's been Nill's main currency when making big trades; not having a 1st or a 3rd would likely make him more cautious in moving any future picks. Their prospect pool is quite good, with guys like Johnston, Bourque, Stankoven, Blumel, Harley, Bischel, and Kyrou, but like I said Nill has always been reticent to move any prospects so I would be surprised to see it happen.

Gotcha, thanks for the insight. I guess their willingness or rather unwillingness to move futures is would make them not make so much sense.

The other thing I didn't really factor into this, is if a third team will have to be in the mix for CHI to move Kane. Most teams that he'd likely want to go do are all up against the cap.

From what we know the lightning will just find another way to by pass the salary cap and trade for Kane