Patrick Kane Is Getting Traded, Might as Well be to the Maple Leafs
By James Tanner
How the Toronto Maple Leafs Can Get Patrick Kane
Kane is currently the best American player ever, and Matthews is likely one playoff victory away from surpassing him for that title.
Matthews will have a chance to score an NHL record amount of goals if he has the NHL’s two best passers on his wings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs would have the best roster in the NHL, for sure, and maybe even the best in the cap era.
Patrick Kane on the Leafs makes sense. It’s a perfect fit.
Here is the trade:
The Blackhawks send Patrick Kane and 50% retained to the San Jose Sharks for Mario Ferarro, and Radim Simkek, James Reimer, and Nico Sturm to the Blackhawks which is approximately $10 million in salary. This should allow them to flip these guys at the deadline for extra assets. Chicago could take at least one more $2-ish million player from San Jose if they needed it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs send Jake Muzzin and an unprotected 2023 1st round pick to the Sharks for Patrick Kane, with half his remaining salary retained. The Sharks get a pick and some salary relief.
The Leafs also trade a 2025 unprotected 1st along with Nick Robertson, Justin Holl and Alex Kerfoot (both of whom Chicago will flip at the deadline) for Connor Murphy who is massively overpaid for a defense-only player.
The Blackhawks end up with six players they can flip for six draft picks, and they get a first round pick. Considering they get out of Connor Murphy deal as well, they do pretty well here for trading a pending UFA with a ten million dollar cap hit.
The Sharks get some salary relief (though not much because are taking Muzzin and retaining some salary) as they are over the cap, and they get a first, and Jake Muzzin.
The Leafs bring in Murphy and Kane, but Kane’s Cap hit is double retained, so they are taking in about $8 million but losing $11, which should also let them sign Sandin.
Connor Murphy will start on the LTIR anyways, so it shouldn’t matter too much.
Now, I’m just spit balling, and I’m not a cap expert nor an expert on anything really, except maybe on the works of Don DeLillo or Bruce Springsteen. The point here is just to show that the basic framework to make a trade like this is possible.
Next. The Leafs Owe Their Fans Some Fun. dark
Murphy is a righty and he’s tough as hell with tons of snarl. He’ll be super popular in Toronto, while Patrick Kane jersey sales alone will be enough to satisfy the Leafs, who will also be a nearly unstoppable as it is for an NHL team to be.