July 1, 2014, (and beyond) trades, signings , rumours

[Island Nucklehead]

That being said. I highly doubt the reason that Kane wants out of Winnipeg is that he wants to be on winner

lol no kidding. Winnipeg is a dump. The combination of brutal winter, shitty (re: cheap) team, shitty city and terrible nightlife must be hell on a kid who just appears to want to party like a rockstar. It would be hilarious if the Jets traded him to Edmonton.

His attitude sucks. That would make him infinitely more frustrating to watch if the team was struggling. Do I think he'd clean up his act if he was traded to Vancouver? Probably. But at the same time, if he thinks the media spotlight is bad in Winnipeg... there would be a rather large bounty for the first reporter to get their hands on a "Kane wasted at the Roxy" story.

He's the opposite of a Benning guy. Grabbing him as a UFA when his deal is up, hopefully when he's grown up a bit, is something we can consider down the road. I'd hate to give up three big assets (like Kassian+Tanev+pick) for the potential train-wreck watching the party animal tackle Vancouver.

[dbr]

If I was a player who wanted to win, unless a franchise like that has a pretty exceptional youth movement coming (and I'd guess that's exactly what they're trying to sell to the fanbase with Scheifele, Trouba, Ehlers, Morrissey... Petan?), I'd be looking to get out as well. Unless Pavelec turns his game around and a bunch of their bubble players suddenly turn into reliable NHLers, they'll be in tough to even finish 5th in their division this year.

So by that you must be ok with Kesler wanting out of Vancouver so he could be on 'a winner'? Keslers teammates had so much respect for him they stripped the A from his jersey. I really like having whiners like Kesler and Kane on the Canucks. real winners they are.

That being said. I highly doubt the reason that Kane wants out of Winnipeg is that he wants to be on winner

I'm not particularly upset about Kesler wanting out. Would have been nice if he'd given us a list of more than (effectively) one team, but wanting out in general I don't see much issue with.

And I'm not even saying that Kane has a great attitude or prioritizes winning above all else either, I'm sure for a kid like him the appeal of a city more appropriate for someone like himself is probably the biggest motivator.

I'm responding to Clam's comment that players should want to be in Winnipeg because it's full of die hard fans that want a winner. They can want it all they want but unless that franchise gets some stellar management they're probably not going to get it.

And who wants to be in a fishbowl environment when the team is (perennially) losing?

Anyway - I probably wouldn't pay the going rate for him at this point.

[Meds]

When you consider his Vegas photo, that is troubling to say the least. Guy is getting paid "real city" money and clearly his priorities are not loyalty or winning as much as they are lifestyle. He's playing in a hockey mad city w/ diehard fans and all they want is a winner. Kane is Kesler 2.0 and not in a good way.

Who gives a fuck if they are hockey mad, they are a small market franchise that (outside of an aberrant year where the cap was set below the level it should have been) have never been in the top half of league payroll and will go into this year in the bottom 10 yet again unless they hand out big money to Derek Roy or Mike Ribeiro between now and training camp.

Add to this the fact that they have had some obvious holes in their roster for years now that have been exposed even worse in the Western Conference.. poor forward depth and poor goaltending, two of the easier areas to address in this league and if they haven't done anything by now it's obviously not going to happen any time soon.

If I was a player who wanted to win, unless a franchise like that has a pretty exceptional youth movement coming (and I'd guess that's exactly what they're trying to sell to the fanbase with Scheifele, Trouba, Ehlers, Morrissey... Petan?), I'd be looking to get out as well. Unless Pavelec turns his game around and a bunch of their bubble players suddenly turn into reliable NHLers, they'll be in tough to even finish 5th in their division this year.

It's pretty obvious that the small market they are in is having an effect on the moves they make, or don't make.....

I haven't followed them overly closely, but every Jets fan I talk to is completely disappointed in Pavlec. He signed a respectable contract, but he's not performing the way they had hoped he would. Nobody will take him at that cap hit, so they should have bought him out to clear cap and then tried to sign someone else.

The problem is, not too many marquis names are going to sign in Winnipeg.

[dbr]

They likely didn't want to spend the cash to buy Pavelec out of his remaining years and they don't have another goaltender coming up through the system anyway. Even a step up to Hiller would have helped them, or bringing in a couple of journeymen like Chad Johnson and Thomas Greiss might have been better than what they have now.

Same with the forward group, it'd obviously help to get an Iginla or a Stastny or whatever but even just a couple of tough minutes third liners would help them out immensely.

[ESQ]

Notwithstanding the off-the-ice criticisms of Evander, I don't see him as a "risk" at all.

He's 22 years old, has scored basically at a 30 goal/60 point pace for 3 years on a terrible team, and has 4 more years at a reasonable $5.25 million cap hit.

He's a Vancouverite born and raised, and Vancouverites tend to get pissy if they have to move somewhere else in Canada. Moving to a city in the US is a different issue, but we tend to think of Vancouver as the only city worth living in in Canada, and a lot of us would be choked at living in Winnipeg for 8 years.

I see his actions (especially the Sekeres interview) as an unhappy kid who's immaturely acting out. He might not mature overnight if he gets traded to Van and that's fine - Kesler wasn't mature during his peak years, but he was damn motivated and that makes up for a lot when you're as skilled as Kane.

[Strangelove]

He was asked by a CBC reporter if he thought some of the twitter reaction was in part racially motivated.

He said yes, partially... and that he was just trying to be funny.

(does anyone doubt some of the twitter tweets weren't absolutely racist?)

Then of course some of the Pegger crowd took it as him calling Peggers racist.

I thought both pics were hilarious but I'll admit I have a slightly twisted sense of humour.]

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References from the Hockey News Magazine to Don Cherry disagree.

Winnipeg Sun:

Evander Kane says some of the criticism he receives is because of his race.

The Winnipeg Jets forward made the comments for a story in an upcoming edition of the Hockey News Magazine

Don Cherry started by saying he’s an Evander Kane fan, has been since the start. But followed up with:

When you act like he acts... if his name was O’Shaugnessy, he’d still get criticized. To say it’s racial is ridiculous.

Don Cherry fan are ya?

From your link:

I’m not at all surprised to hear that Kane feels the way he does.

All you have to do is venture onto an internet comment board or two, where you’ll find ugly racism alive and unwell.

Kane Thursday clarified his earlier quote to the Hockey News, telling a Winnipeg media scrum he was referring to mostly anonymous messages he reads on social media sites, particularly Twitter.

There, he, I and Cherry agree.

“They’re the gutless people of all time,” is how Cherry put it.

The CBC reporter asked him if some of the twitter reaction was due to racism.

He answered truthfully: "Yes, partially."

I guess he should have bit the bullet and lied huh?

Or had Iginla-like wisdom... at age 21... and said "No comment, next question please."

Well he doesn't have that kind of wisdom yet.

He makes some bad decisions off the ice sometimes.

Maybe he needs to come to Vancouver where they teach their players all about PR.

Evander is clearly trying to be a colourful character.

As Cherry says, you can't be like that in hockey (that's only for football and basketball).

Cherry also says the kid will learn eventually, will grow up eventually.

Like I keep saying, if he didn't have some immaturity issues, HE WOULDN'T BE AVAILABLE!

It's ridiculous to pass up on a franchise-type player because of a few character flaws.

He's young yet, and it's not like these flaws are affecting his on-ice performance.

OF COURSE you take a chance on a kid like this if he comes available!

Especially when he is from Vancouver and has made it clear this is his number one destination

(meaning you should be able to retain him for the next decade plus).

[Strangelove]

How long did he let those parking tickets go? Over a year? Its probably just standard procedure that happens to everyone who doesn't pay.

It's not standard procedure, google it.

Maybe Kane thinks he's special and is being persecuted because he's not being treated like a celebrity.

Kane never complained about the tickets or the motion to garnish.

The racist comment...he thought he was being funny?

He thought he was being funny by tweeting those pics (not by how he responded to the racism question).

[Strangelove]

Do I think he'd clean up his act if he was traded to Vancouver? Probably.

[Strangelove]

They likely didn't want to spend the cash to buy Pavelec out of his remaining years and they don't have another goaltender coming up through the system anyway. Even a step up to Hiller would have helped them, or bringing in a couple of journeymen like Chad Johnson and Thomas Greiss might have been better than what they have now.

Same with the forward group, it'd obviously help to get an Iginla or a Stastny or whatever but even just a couple of tough minutes third liners would help them out immensely.

So to sum up your post....

Lack + Jensen + 2 of Higgins/Hansen/Burrows... FOR... EVANDER KANE

[dbr]

Well, I was just talking about the easy to solve problems.

The Jets, like the Canucks and many other teams, could really really use a good young NHL center or two. I'm pretty certain they'd insist that any return for Kane ticks that box..

[Strangelove]

Well, I was just talking about the easy to solve problems.

The Jets, like the Canucks and many other teams, could really really use a good young NHL center or two. I'm pretty certain they'd insist that any return for Kane ticks that box..

So to sum up your posts....

Lack + Bonino + 1 of Higgins/Hansen/Burrows... FOR... EVANDER KANE


Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Kane - Horvat/Vey/Matthias/Richardson/Fox - Kassian

[Aaronp18]

Kane - Horvat/Vey/Matthias/Richardson/Fox - Kassian

I don't care what centre plays on that line it will be a ridiculously tough line to handle!

Someone with some defensive acumen is really all you would need. Kass can help distribute the puck, Kane is a wrecking ball, both can drive the net hard and forecheck the hell out of the defense.

We could see 25 and 35 goal scorers on our second line. We would actually have a second line!

I'm on the "if Kane is available go get him bandwagon"!

[dbr]

Well, I was just talking about the easy to solve problems.

The Jets, like the Canucks and many other teams, could really really use a good young NHL center or two. I'm pretty certain they'd insist that any return for Kane ticks that box..

So to sum up your posts....

Lack + Bonino + 1 of Higgins/Hansen/Burrows... FOR... EVANDER KANE


Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Kane - Horvat/Vey/Matthias/Richardson/Fox - Kassian

Hah. Like a miniature version of the Thornton trade.

I'd make that deal.. especially if it included Burrows.

[Betamax]

Well, I was just talking about the easy to solve problems.

The Jets, like the Canucks and many other teams, could really really use a good young NHL center or two. I'm pretty certain they'd insist that any return for Kane ticks that box..

So to sum up your posts....

Lack + Bonino + 1 of Higgins/Hansen/Burrows... FOR... EVANDER KANE


Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Kane - Horvat/Vey/Matthias/Richardson/Fox - Kassian

Hah. Like a miniature version of the Thornton trade.

I'd make that deal.. especially if it included Burrows.

duh, that's more like, kinda trying to buy a 2014 Chevy Corvette for the price of a used Chevy Cavalier.

[Betamax]

The Canucks need prima donnas about as much as they need cream puffs. The only exceptions should be for exceptional talents. Meat & potatoes, that's the ticket.


Botchford would like to be prima donna ... but he's just a hack


PS - Better to be a stranger than a schmuck.

I think Kane is an exceptional talent, and talent/skill wise would look good in a Canuck uni.

Yeah, Botchford is one of those in the local media that thinks Canucks' should go "all-in" on Kane.

He mentioned the "G" word .... generational talent. Which seems over the top if we take it literally and in the traditional meaning of the word.

But remember what Michael D. Gillis' said about how hard it is to get players that are "power forwards" at the NHL level when he made the Kassian deal. They are almost "impossible" to find.

I mean, off hand over the past couple of decades ........ we are still referencing Neely, Shanny, Clark, Iggy and from a Canucks' POV, Big Bert as PF types.

You can literally count on one hand how many PF that play at an elite level who are in the NHL at any point in time. So, upon reflection, Botchford isn't exactly exaggerating if The Real Deal Kane is the next Iggy, he could be considered a generational talent for that PF class of player.