Patrick Kane Is PISSED The Rangers Traded For Tarasenko
The Rangers zeroed in on Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko striking a trade to pair the Russian forward with fellow countryman, Artemi Panarin. Timo Meier was New York’s top target but the price appeared to be too high for their liking. New York essentially picked Tarasenko over Patrick Kane and it’s safe to say Kane’s not happy about it.
“It’s not, like, the happiest I’ve been to hear about a trade,” he said Friday, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis. “I think the Rangers are a team that you definitely pay attention to and definitely are intrigued by, for obvious reasons.”
“If things were going to happen, that was a team I was definitely looking at. It seems like they kind of filled their void and went ahead and made a deal, so it is what it is.”
Kane, 34, will become an unrestricted free agent this Summer and is currently in the final year of a eight year, $84 million contract. Chicago would have to retain in order to facilitate any trade. However, the Rangers were actually one team that had functional cap space. They fit in Tarasenko pretty seamlessly on their books.
The longtime Blackhawk is also a Buffalo native. Returning to New York to play at Madison Square Garden surely would have been an attractive landing spot. It feels like only a matter of time before the Devils figure out a package for Timo Meier. Kane might be running out of landing spots. Other potential landing spots may or may not include the Islanders, Golden Knights, Sabres, Leafs, and Stars feel like possibilities.