McKenzie: Bruins, Penguins "would be automatics" to want healthy Evander Kane

Bob McKenzie was on Toronto’s TSN 1050 on Thursday afternoon.

On which type of team might take a gamble on Evander Kane:

“That’s a good question and first off, there’s two types of teams in the National Hockey League. Especially when it’s three weeks and change to the trade deadline.

“There are contending teams and there are non-contending teams. And there are going to be some of each that would be interested in Evander Kane. Either as a 23-year-old centrepiece of a young team that’s going to be growing old together and getting good. A rebuilding team, if you will. Or a contending team that wants him right now for what he’ll give them down the stretch.

#NHLJets have placed Evander Kane on IR & recalled Patrice Cormier from @IceCapsAHL.
— Winnipeg Jets PR (@WpgJetsPR) February 5, 2025

“The injury spectre here can’t be overlooked. He’s had a number of injuries this year, but he’s got one in particular that everybody concedes is likely to require surgery at the end of the season. If he needs to have that surgery sooner – I mean, if you’re the Boston Bruins or the Pittsburgh Penguins, who need a right-winger who can score goals in the here and now. And then you trade for the guy and a week later he has to shut it down because he needs surgery? That would be a catastrophic waste of assets and diminishing your team, at a time of the year when you can’t afford to do it.

“Those two teams that I mentioned would be automatics if they thought there were getting a healthy Kane... And this is what teams are doing right now. Listen, I know. I talked to a bunch of them today. They’re all checking in. They’re all calling former teammates, former coaches, people who know him, people who say they know him. And they’re trying to get a handle on, ‘Is this guy just an immature 23-year-old who has acted out inappropriately at times because he wanted out of a situation, or is he just a guy who’s going to be a bad teammate and difficult to get along with wherever he happens to be?’

“Because there’s no denying the speed, the skill, the power, and all of those things. Although he’s been playing on the third line for the Jets, and he’s a 30-point guy right now.”

Source: TSN 1050/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

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