The Patrick Kane saga has reached its conclusion. Finally.
The New York Rangers acquired Kane and minor leaguer Cooper Zech on Tuesday in a three-team trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes.
Chicago received a conditional 2023 second-round draft pick, a 2025 fourth-rounder, and minor leaguers Vili Saarijarvi and Andy Welinski while retaining 50% of Kane’s $10.5-million salary. Arizona, meanwhile, received a 2025 third-rounder from New York for 25% retention.
The trade, which closes a chapter in Blackhawks history, is complicated and indicative of a wild trade market, so let’s unpack some winners and losers.
Winner: Patrick Kane
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In the end, “Showtime” got his way.
Kane negotiated a no-move clause into his contract back in 2014, and over the past few months, he exercised it to its full potential. The pending unrestricted free agent waited and waited before finally making a decision. It was well within his rights to take his time and select a landing spot (score for player empowerment!), and now he’s joining forces with old pal Artemi Panarin and the rest of the 34-17-9 Rangers, a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Kane, 34, won three Stanley Cups over a 16-year run with the Blackhawks. He’s one of the best offensive players of his generation, with a trophy case full of individual awards to prove it. And while he’s no longer in his prime, Kane’s going to benefit greatly from being surrounded by more talent in New York.
For the first time in a long time, he can be “A Guy,” not necessarily “The Guy.”
Loser: Kyle Davidson
Let’s face it, Chicago’s general manager was dealt a pretty crappy hand.
Davidson began 2022-23 with two legacy stars to dangle as premier deadline rentals. Trading both Kane and Jonathan Toews, while not an easy task thanks to no-move clauses and expensive contracts, would expedite a deep rebuild.
Health issues eventually removed Toews from the trade block. And now Kane has been shipped out for a less-than-ideal package: two draft picks, one of which might turn into a first-rounder. (The 2023 second-rounder becomes a first in 2024 or 2025 if the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Final this season.)
No guaranteed first, no A-level prospect, and no young NHLer; not exactly a haul.
Yes, Davidson had little control over the situation. But it doesn’t erase the fact that he lost this trade with the Rangers – who had all the leverage due to Kane choosing New York as his only destination – and couldn’t trade Toews, period.
Winner: Gerard Gallant
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The Rangers head coach officially has an embarrassment of riches up front.
This month alone, Gallant’s been gifted forwards Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Tyler Motte. Kane is having a down year by his lofty standards (45 points in 54 games) but has turned it on of late with 10 points in his past four games. Despite his age, Kane remains a lethal setup man. He possesses silky hands and the requisite hockey IQ to execute extremely creative plays.
That revamped top six – Kane, Tarasenko, Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Vincent Trocheck – is as good as any in the NHL, and the usage and deployment possibilities are endless. The so-called “Kid Line” of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, and Kaapo Kakko is an enviable third line. And a fourth line of Motte, Jimmy Vesey, and Barclay Goodrow is, well, laughably good.
Rangers GM Chris Drury also acquired defenseman Niko Mikkola for Gallant’s third pair. Yeah, February has been very kind to the coach and his lineup card.
Loser: Jarmo Kekalainen
The Columbus Blue Jackets GM must be fuming right now.
Technically, the Kane trade didn’t see a first-round pick change hands. But down the road, New York could fork over a first-rounder for Kane, so the deal represents yet another instance over the past month where a contending team included a first in a trade package. There are only so many.
In total, eight first-rounders over the next three drafts have been sacrificed (one of them twice in a matter of days) for the likes of Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, Jake McCabe, Tanner Jeannot, Dmitry Orlov, Bo Horvat, Rasmus Sandin, Mattias Ekholm, and Timo Meier. (The Meier deal featured a guaranteed first and a conditional second that may turn into another first.)
Apparently, none of these clubs are super intrigued by Vladislav Gavrikov, the rugged Columbus defenseman who on Tuesday sat out his eighth straight game for “trade-related reasons.” A deal between the Blue Jackets and Bruins was reportedly very close, but Boston ultimately chose Orlov over Gavrikov.
Surely Gavrikov will be scooped up before the deadline. But for what?
Winner: Eastern Conference
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The Kane deal added to the arms race well underway in the East.
The difference between the two conferences was striking prior to the first major move of this wacky trade period (Horvat to the New York Islanders on Jan. 30). A month later, the East occupies spots one through six on the points percentage leaderboard while dominating the West on the trade market.
Here’s the list of notable NHLers who’ve been moved to or stayed within the East since that first domino fell with the Horvat swap: Kane, Tarasenko, O’Reilly, Orlov, Meier, Jeannot, McCabe, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Luke Schenn.
And the West: Ekholm, Nino Niederreiter, Ivan Barbashev, Evgenii Dadonov, and Tyson Barrie.
Keep in mind, too, the Carolina Hurricanes – who trail only the Bruins in points percentage – have only acquired Puljujarvi. There’s no way Carolina’s done.
Loser: ‘Trade-related reasons’
The term “trade-related reasons” (and its cousin, “roster management reasons”) is getting quite the workout this month. Kane, who missed his final two games in Chicago, became the first big name to actually get moved after being scratched out of fear of injury before a trade could be finalized.
Gavrikov (out eight games without a trade) and Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun (eight games) are still waiting for news. Healthy and useful players sitting around doing nothing for weeks isn’t a great look for the NHL, though the situation appeared worse when Jeannot, Schenn, Sam Lafferty, and Vitali Kravtsov had also watched at least one game from the press box.
The latest “trade-related” scratches? Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo and Coyotes forward Nick Bjugstad were both sidelined Tuesday night.
Winner: Third-party brokering
NHL Images / Getty Images
Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong has joined Wild GM Bill Guerin in the 2022-23 third-party brokers club – and membership may grow in the coming days.
Guerin has taken on salary in two different trades, first receiving a 2025 fourth-round pick from Toronto for retaining 50% of O’Reilly’s salary and then netting a 2023 fifth-rounder from Boston for eating 50% of Orlov’s salary.
This mini-trend is a byproduct of the salary cap’s minimal increase during the pandemic. Last season saw one third-party broker deal (Max Domi), while 2020-21 had three such deals (Mattias Janmark, Nick Foligno, David Savard).
Of course, a third team isn’t always needed to retain salary. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen plenty of selling teams eat a portion of a contract to make the money work for the buyer. Teams can retain on a total of three players.
Loser: Trade deadline shows
Let’s keep this last one short: While it’s awesome to see so much trade activity, TV executives in Canada and the United States can’t be too pleased.
Friday won’t be dead – there’s always movement on deadline day, and this season definitely feels abnormally busy, in general – but a lot of the marquee names have already changed teams. Time to prepare the gimmicky segments.
John Matisz is theScore’s senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
