NHL Rumors: Latest on Patrick Kane, Jake DeBrusk, and Washington Capitals
Anthony Scultore
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There’s been a lot of talk around the Chicago Blackhawks after new GM Kyle Davidson’s press conference. After announcing that the team would be rebuilding, the future’s of their two marquee names came up.
Both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have one year remaining on deals that come with an AAV of $10.5 million. Davidson said he would be talking with both players about the team’s plans and they would take it from there.
NHL Rumors: Patrick Kane wants to stay
Kane, 33, is having a fine season for the Blackhawks with 53 points in 50 games. The Buffalo, NY native has called Chicago his home for 15 years and spoke openly on Wednesday about where he sees himself.
“Let’s be honest, I love Chicago. I love the City and the fans,” Kane said. ““I think there’s always business decisions. I know in the game of hockey there’s not many guys that play their whole career with one team. So it would be a privilege and an honor to do that. But I guess we’ll see how it all plays out.”
The Blackhawks top scorer said he has yet to speak with Davidson about his future but knows they will. Is it possible he could be traded? The answer is yes, but he has a full no-move clause and any transaction requires his blessing.
If I had to gander a guess, the Hawks would likely trade Jonathan Toews and 50% salary retention for a bundle of picks and prospects.
NHL Rumors: Jake DeBrusk
Back in November, Jake DeBrusk’s demand for a trade became public. Since then the 25 year-old pending RFA has been playing really well and brought his season totals to 24 points in 49 games. He’s done this on the strength of 9 point run (7G – 2A) in his last 6 games.
“The Boston Bruins are legitimately trying to (trade him),” Elliotte Friedman said in December. “They’ve searched the market hard to see what’s out there and will do it on their timeline. They will look for a forward or defenseman they consider of equal value.”
DeBrusk makes $3.675M and is heading to RFA status this summer. According to Pierre LeBrun, he still wants a trade and his agent, Rick Valette has been talking to potential suitors about a contract extension to facilitate a deal.
The other thing Valette talked about is that he has informed teams, by the way he has permission to talk directly to other teams, that they’re willing to work on an extension to help facilitate a deal. A lot of teams are concerned about the $4.4 million qualifying offer to retain his rights this summer, maybe [if there’s] an extension at a cheaper price everyone will go home happy.
TSN
Teams that have reportedly shown interest in DeBrusk are the Rangers, Canucks, and Flames.
NHL Rumors: Latest on Giroux, Forsberg, and Fleury
Washington Capitals looking for a goalie
On Wednesday, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan spoke with the media and discussed the upcoming trade deadline. What he revealed is that the Washington was in the market for a goaltender and may still be looking to upgrade at that position.
“We called around earlier,” MacLellan said. “It’s gotta be an obvious upgrade for us for it to make sense, or otherwise, we go with our guys,. Is this going to get us over a hump on the goaltending side? I don’t know that there’s that many guys out there that are that quality. There might be one or two.”
The Caps, Ilya Samsonov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Vitek Vanecek is coming off IR. Washington has been attached to Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the past, but he may not want to move.
An interesting situation for sure. Look for them to add a veteran goalie, even if for depth at the deadline.
