Leafs talk to Patrick Kane, says Darren Dreger

The more the days go by, the more we wait to know the identity of the team that will welcome Patrick Kane into its ranks.

The veteran is still recovering from the hip operation he underwent this summer, and has yet to make a decision about his future.

We’ve been hearing rumours about him for the past few days.

Elliotte Friedman talks of the Sabres, Red Wings and Panthers (who are aggressive in signing him) to keep an eye on…

Darren Dreger, for his part, confided in his insider Trading segment (TSN) that there are still eight teams in the running for the veteran’s services: the Panthers, Sabres, Avalanche, Stars, Red Wings, Golden Knights, Rangers (with whom he finished last season) and Leafs…

And, again according to Dreger, the American met with the Toronto outfit via Zoom calls to get a feel for them:

The player and his agent, Pat Brisson, participated in several in-person interviews, including those with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Zoom. – Darren Dreger

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander AND Patrick Kane in the same offensive lineup… That would be pretty scary thanks.

But the Leafs will have to work hard to bring him to town because the club’s payroll is already pretty tight. They have a current cap space of $1,597,499, according to CapFriendly.

Anyways.

It’s a bit of a “hit and miss” situation, because the clubs don’t know how the player will react to his surgery.

Kane’s clan released a video at the end of September, in which we see the former Hawks skating and performing a few exercises. He didn’t seem to have lost his magic…

But training and games are completely different. It’ll be interesting to see how comfortable Kane is when he gets hit on the ice, because hip surgery can have a negative impact on a player’s comeback, especially in hockey.

Talk about Nicklas Bäckström of the Washington Capitals… Or even Paul Byron, who was never the same after his operation in July 2021.

In gusts

– He deserves it.

WATCH | A hilarious “hoodie” given to Marc-Antoine Dequoy by Arnaud Gascon-Nadon https://t.co/ua6UngUKnB @AGN45

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 22, 2023

– Yikes. Hard to get excited about the match, which will be presented at 10pm…

A duel between 2 hard-hitting teams pic.twitter.com/ogs0RE5BAm

– Entre 2 matCHs (@Entre2Matchs) November 22, 2023

– 14 games on the NHL schedule tonight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!

– I see him scoring at least 45.

He currently co-leads the @NHL with 14 goals, but how many will Kyle Connor finish the season with?

Catch him and the @NHLJets in action against the @TBLightning TONIGHT at 7pm ET / 6pm CT, streaming on Sportsnet+. pic.twitter.com/ta4If4KIxH

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 22, 2023