How in the world would anyone think that Patrick Kane is the answer to this struggling Toronto Maple Leafs team?
If you look up and down the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, offense isn’t their issue, and although bringing in a former Hart Trophy winner sounds like a sexy idea, it’s a fantasy that neither us or the Toronto Maple Leafs should want to live out.
Kane is coming off his worst statistical year in quite some time and is also fresh from major surgery, which is a main reason why he hasn’t signed anywhere yet. I personally think that the 34-year-old could still be a good piece to a team that needs a right-winger, but the Leafs kind of have two of the best right-wingers in the NHL already.
I’m not sure if you’ve been watching this team lately, but William Nylander and Mitch Marner are pretty, pretty, pretty (cue Larry David’s voice) good.
In fact, among all right-wingers in the league right now, Marner and Nylander sit second and third in points. The only player ahead of them right now is Nikita Kucherov, who leads the entire NHL and is a former Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy winner.
Pair that with Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL in goals, and John Tavares, who’s having a respectable season (once again), with 14 points in 13 games, and I think the Leafs’ offense is just fine.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Not Sign Patrick Kane
The only way that signing Kane makes any sense at all is if he signs for the league minimum and if he’s willing to play limited minutes on a good team.
Based on his age and pedigree, I’m not really sure if Kane would be willing to sign with a team where he only plays 14 minutes per night in the bottom six. It’s a fun idea envisioning a line of Nick Robertson-Max Domi-Patrick Kane, but would that be more of a fun fantasy line than it would be a legit third line?
A solid third line typically forechecks, can contribute a little bit offensively, and be sound defensively, but does that line really accomplish that?
The newly formed line of Robertson-Domi-Calle Jarnkrok is one that already looks promising, so would it really make sense to demote Jarnkrok instead of Kane?
I’ve continued to use the word “fantasy” throughout this piece, and if this was a fantasy hockey team and you could add/drop daily, bringing in someone like Kane would be a fun addition, as I’d love to see what he could bring. However, Toronto’s offense isn’t the reason this team is losing hockey games right now.
Their defensive group is terrible, and they haven’t gotten as many timely saves as they’ve hoped for.
Joseph Woll and Ilya Samsonov have shown glimmers of hope, but it’s been inconsistent. Again, a lot of that has to do with the defense in front of them, but they could also be a little better at times, although I’m putting the blame mostly on the defensive group.
If GM Brad Treliving signs Kane, it’ll be another clueless signing and one that makes me think that he actually doesn’t know how to build a hockey team. It would just be someone who looks at stats and thinks that they can outscore their problems every night.
As shown recently, the Leafs can’t outscore their problems every night and need a minimum of two new defensemen, or this season is trending in a bad place.