The New York Rangers and Patrick Kane have had the sports world on edge in the past 48 hours, as a deal is being worked on.
It all started when the team made forwards Vitali Kravtsov and Jake Leschyshyn unavailable to play on Thursday due to “roster management reasons.”
And of course, it’s very obvious that those two players are needed to go the other way to have any hope of getting Kane.
But the fact that the Rangers were willing to do that and play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Thursday might tell you that the organization feels confident that it will have a resolution soon.
If it’s not Kane getting dealt to the team today, all signs point to the Rangers making some sort of move to prepare for it.
And that would include putting at least one of Leschyshyn and Kravtsov on waivers today, assuming there’s no trade.
Assuming Leschyshyn gets placed on waivers today, that would give the Rangers $1.56 million in cap space, according to Rangers beat reporter Vince Mercogliano.
Then adding Kravtsov to a Kane trade would give it just enough room to make something work.
The Rangers would need around $2.63 million in cap space and it would reach that target by the March 3 trade deadline assuming those moves are made.
Having the Chicago Blackhawks retain 50% of Kane’s $10.5 million cap hit and another team swallowing 25% would do it.
But finding a third party shouldn’t be a huge issue as the Minnesota Wild have done this already twice this year – with the Ryan O’Reilly, as well as with the Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway trades.
That should cost the Rangers a middle-to-late-round draft pick.
Multiple reports claim that the Rangers and Blackhawks are laying out the framework for the deal.
Along with Kravtsov, defensive prospect Zac Jones has been involved in discussions.
So if there is a deal in place, the only thing left is whether Kane would waive his no-movement clause for the Rangers by the March 3 deadline?
While there has been no decision made yet from Kane, he is only reportedly considering a move to the Rangers.
Waivers start at 2 pm today and the Blackhawks will skate around then.
On Friday, Kane took a “maintenance day.”
But regardless, something is likely happening today – but this potential deal will be complicated for a multitude of reasons.
