Canucks plan to pay another team to take Evander Kane in a trade

The Vancouver Canucks are going to do what they can to continue their rebuild before the March 6 NHL trade deadline.

One piece of that almost surely will be trading away Evander Kane.

And to make that happen, the Canucks are going to have to eat some of his $5.15 million cap hit themselves.

"Kane is drawing some interest, with several teams kicking the tires on acquiring him during the trade freeze," The Athletic's Thomas Drance wrote in a new article on Monday. "The Canucks are willing to do everything possible to facilitate a trade that would send Kane to a playoff team. They’re willing to retain 50 percent of his contract, and they expect to do so if he’s traded."

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Kane, 34, joined his hometown Canucks for this season but hasn't really ever gotten up to speed in terms of being a key contributor.

An acquiring team would be counting on Kane's pedigree as giving him potential to find a new gear with a change of scenery.

"While he’s been an inconsistent performer for Vancouver, all sides are hopeful that Kane’s cachet as a power forward with a proven track record as a playoff performer will prop up his value," Drance writes.

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In the end, Kane might prove to be a fallback option. There are better forwards out there, but if teams don't get them, maybe Kane still fills a need.

"I’ll be curious to see if he’s more of a fallback option for teams like Dallas, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Colorado, who may prefer to first explore the availability of one of the difference-making centres who may shake loose ahead of the deadline, like Vincent Trocheck and Ryan O’Reilly, to boost their heavy skill quotient," Drance writes.

Given that reality, Kane may remain with the Canucks right up until that deadline, when someone swoops in to get him figuring that Kane is still a better pickup than no one.

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