McKenzie: Flyers, Jets had "serious talks" about Kane
/Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 Wednesday afternoon.
On Evander Kane and how close the Winnipeg Jets have come to trading him:
“I think it’s quiet on the Evander Kane front right now. But I I believe that the Winnipeg Jets were much more open to the possibility of listening and exploring their options over the course of the summer. In fact, it’s my understanding – and I mentioned this when we did the Winnipeg Jets season preview on SportsCentre on the other day – that the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets had serious talks about Evander Kane. And there were some who felt that it was really close to happening, but that it didn’t come to pass. And whether that was something on the Philadelphia side or something on the Winnipeg side, I don’t know. Only that they were listening.
“At this point in time, it’s not like Kevin Cheveldayoff, as I understand it – it’s not like he’s picking up the phone and saying, ‘Hey, who wants Evander Kane?’
“I think in a perfect world, and I said this on the preview too, the Winnipeg Jets want Evander Kane to be a happy, productive member of their organization for his whole career, if he’s up for it. But what has to end is all of the ambiguity about whether he’s happy there or not happy there.
“Or at the very least, if he’s not happy there, still be satisfied enough in his surroundings to score his 30 goals and 40 would be even better if he could do that.
“So I think this is the year we need to put all that stuff behind us – does he want to be there, does he not want to be there – and they’ve either got to move forward with him, scoring goals and being productive, or do something bold and make a move and start another chapter.”
Isn’t the assumption that if you ever trade for him, you’re going to have to overpay for him?
“I would think so, because, I mean, he’s on a good contract. He’s such a good player. I mean, where you start going down the checklist of things, okay, ‘Is he big and strong?’ Yes he is. ‘Is he as fast a winger as there is in the National Hockey League?’ He’s right up there with the absolute elite of the elite. ‘Has he got an unbelievable shot and an ability to put the puck in the net?’ Yes he does. ‘Can he play that blinding speed power game, drive to the net, and does he have star power?’ Yes he does.
“So if you trade him, you better make sure you’ve got something coming back. And something is not quantity. It’s quality. So that’s where the Jets will suffer in trade talks because they’re going to be looking for the best under-23 player in somebody else’s organization and most teams don’t want to give those guys up.”
Source: TSN 1050/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey