As with almost any big-name player that either hits free agency or becomes available for a possible trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Chicago Blackhawks star winger Patrick Kane.
At some point, just about any star player is going to be linked with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In large part this is tied to a fanbase that is dying for play-off success but also one desperate for any sort of hockey news in the doldrums of late summer.
Of course, the most recent two big names were coming from free agency and were both lined up as homecoming heroes, which certainly wouldn’t quite be the case with a Buffalo-born Patrick Kane.
Steven Stamkos opted to remain in Tampa and has played his part in two Stanley Cup wins. John Tavares meanwhile has great but hasn’t quite pushed the Leafs over the top.
Patrick Kane needs no real introduction. He’s a three-time Stanley Cup winner, the 2007 first overall pick; a Calder, Conn Smythe, Art Ross, Hart and Ted Lindsay Award winner and arguably the best ever American-born player in the NHL.
In 1,107 career regular-season games, he has totaled 1,180 points. Even if he is past the age of thirty, he has shown himself able to keep producing.
On an incredibly poor Chicago Blackhawks team last season, he still managed 92 points after all.
His availability appears to still be a little questionable but with a massive knock-down and rebuild project in Chicago, you’d have to imagine Kane might well be keen to be moved elsewhere.
This is a player that very much can change a game with his playmaking talents, albeit one that has a price tag that certainly lives up to his talents.
Simply told, regardless of price, these sorts of talents don’t typically become available even if most links to the Leafs appear to be pure conjecture.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs however did go all-in in acquiring such a ‘big fish’, it’d come with certain drawbacks. Here we weigh up the pros and cons of any such trade, however likely or unlikely it is.