The New York Rangers have been in the running for Patrick Kane for a long time. It seems like that deal is almost upon us. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the deal for Kane has been agreed upon, but the Rangers need to wait for a couple of days to ensure that they can fit Kane on the roster without having to make any additional moves once they know if forward Jake Leschyshyn has cleared waivers or not.
Kane left the Chicago Blackhawks in San Jose as he went back to the Windy City to sort out everything ahead of his trade to New York. It’s coming closer. At this moment, we still do not know what the return is, but there are more wrinkles to this than you’d think. Kane wants to be a Ranger, the Rangers want Kane, and they almost have enough money saved up to make it work. What could stop this from happening?
While all indications remain positive on a Patrick Kane to #NYR deal eventually coming to fruition, the trade itself likely won't be executed before Wednesday. It could even come closer to Friday's 3 p.m. deadline because the salary cap implications improve with each passing day.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 26, 2023
Ryan Lindgren. Not that Ryan Lindgren would be involved going the other way or that he does not want Patrick Kane to become a member of the Blueshirts, but his injury suffered in the drubbing at the hands of the Washington Capitals. He is currently listed as day-to-day and the fact the Rangers already have Ben Harpur on the roster to cope with the loss is fine, but it means they need to keep Leschyshyn up today to play LA and won’t get the extra room for now.
After the Kravtsov trade yesterday, the Rangers are clearly trying to move the money around to fit this move in as soon as possible so they can turn their attention to other things like key extensions and enjoying the run down the stretch as they look to contend for the cup, but life is never that simple. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet says: “You plan, God Laughs.”