West Notes: Kane, Landeskog, Thompson

Rumors are flying surrounding Patrick Kane and whether he’ll be traded before the March 3rd deadline, with many speculating that the New York Rangers could be his preferred destination. Such speculation may need to hold off for a little while, though, as it still seems as though Kane hasn’t yet made a decision on his future. Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, confirmed as much to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, stating that “Patrick hasn’t made any decision at this point.”

Tonight has already featured a significant trade, with the Boston Bruins acquiring two key veterans from the Washington Capitals. Kane could end up the star of this trade deadline season, but seeing as he is in full control of his playing future, any developments will come on a timeline he prefers. We still have a little bit of time before the trade deadline fully hits, although it is definitely possible that the longer he waits, the more likely it is that potentially interested contending teams decide they need to play things safe and explore backup plans.

• On TSN’s Insider Trading program, LeBrun reported that Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog’s true timeline in his return from injury remains “unclear.” The Avalanche do not yet have a firm sense of when he’ll be ready to return to the lineup, and that uncertainty has major trade deadline implications. As long as there remains the possibility of Landeskog returning in this regular season, the Avalanche cannot use Landeskog’s salary on long-term injured reserve to add to their roster, since they would not have the cap space to activate Landeskog once healthy. If nothing else, the Avalanche will be hoping for some more clarity on Landeskog’s timeline in these next few days so they can really shore up their deadline plans.
• Vegas Golden Knights netminder Logan Thompson has been placed on injured reserve, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun’s Danny Webster. Thompson has been out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, so this news should come as no surprise. What it does do is make Thompson’s injury absence official from a roster perspective, clearing a spot on the 23-man unit for the team to work with.