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Blackhawks Bits: A few rumblings on Patrick Kane trade talks

There are going to be a lot of these rumors and reports flying around the internet, as the Chicago Blackhawks attempt to figure out what they’re going to do with Patrick Kane, who remains in the final year of his contract with a no-movement clause on a team that’s rebuilding.

Here at Second City Hockey, we’re not going to turn every whisper into an article because it’s going to waste your time and ours. However, to ensure that SCH readers — who are already the most intelligent, most attractive and most respected hockey fans on the internet — can add “most informed” to their long list of excellent traits, we’re going to share updates whenever any of the bigger names in the hockey media world offer reports.

And that’s the case for this Monday.

We’ll start with Elliotte Friedman’s “32 Thoughts” podcast and the episode that was released last Thursday. Around the 14:40 mark, Kane’s name comes up in initial speculation with the Edmonton Oilers, discussion which has been “hot locally,” as Friedman puts it. A few moments later, Friedman dives deeper into the topic by offering the thoughts on the potential timing of a Kane trade:

“The thing is, what do the Blackhawks want to do and what does Kane want to do? First of all, is Chicago ready to do it? They’ve been adamant that they’re not going to Toews, Kane or Jones unless those players come to them. So that’s position No. 1. Position No. 2 — and I think that this is a key thing — is what makes more sense for Kane: picking somewhere now or waiting during the season to see who’s good?        — Friedman

Friedman later suggested that the second option above seemed to be the preferred route, which would mean that Kane would, at least, start the season in Chicago. Friedman also discussed the possibility of a 3-team trade, with the Blackhawks and then a second team involved both retaining portions of Kane’s $10.5 million salary to make the financial part of the deal work.

The second news item here comes from the DFO Rundown, which features hockey insiders Jason Gregor and Frank Seravalli. The episode from last Wednesday dove into the Kane trade talks around the 31-minute mark.

Seravalli made a similar comment as Friedman, in regards to the possibility of when Kane could get traded. echoing what Seravalli reported at the draft:

He’s not interested in a trade before the season starts. That if he is going somewhere, he’d like to go at the deadline or sometime around then.    — Seravalli on Kane

Seravalli also referenced some discussions that apparently happened during draft weekend:

Day two of the draft this year, in Montreal, there was a lot of talk behind the scenes quietly about the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks, talking about Patrick Kane. I don’t think it ever got very far, given that Kane controls it and wasn’t ready. But, make no mistake, the Rangers were one of those teams that were like, ‘Can we get Panarin and Kane back together?’  — Seravalli

The only conclusion to draw from those reports is that Kane will be starting the season in Chicago and everything beyond that will remain up in the air. While those reports deal with the topic of when Kane could be traded, they don’t address if Kane will be traded.

With that in mind, we shift to Canada and Montreal radio station TSN 690, which had Canadiens beat reporter Marco D’Amico on its airwaves over the weekend. While much of the discussion centered on Kirby Dach, one interesting nugget from D’Amico caught our attention:

It’s the second line from D’Amico that seems the most interesting, specifically the part about “the degree at which Chicago wants to burn it to the ground.” An organization which desires that dramatic of an overhaul would seem to not have any interest in keeping around veteran players like Kane (or Toews, or Connor Murphy, or Jake McCabe, etc.), wouldn’t it? To our knowledge, there has never been any public or reported statement of Kane expressing a desire to leave Chicago. But this report suggests that Chicago may not have any desire to keep Kane around beyond this season.

Only six or seven more months until the trade deadline, folks. Buckle up.

Talking Points