Canucks Notes: Kane, Buium, Hoglander

It’s already known that winger Evander Kane won’t finish the year with the Vancouver Canucks since the team allowed his agent to negotiate a trade to another organization. Still, Kane has yet to be moved.

Most of the interest in Kane is coming from the Western Conference, where he may prefer to remain. The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars have already been linked, with beat writer Robert Tiffin confirming the latter team’s interest earlier today. Additionally, Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period reported today that the Los Angeles Kings have entered the mix for Kane’s services.

Multiple outlets have claimed that the Canucks were willing to retain some salary on the remainder of Kane’s contract and are only looking for a prospect or draft capital in return. Throughout his career, Kane has achieved at least a 20-goal campaign more often than not, though he has struggled to put the puck in the net this year, with nine goals in 52 games. Still, interested teams have likely placed more value on his playoff performance the past two years, scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 41 games, with 159 hits, helping the Edmonton Oilers reach back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.

Additional notes from the Vancouver Canucks:

• After losing netminder Thatcher Demko for the remainder of the season, Vancouver may also be without one of their top young blue-liners for the foreseeable future. Passing along a note from head coach Adam Foote, Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre reported that defenseman Zeev Buium has a broken cheekbone and that surgery has not been ruled out. The Canucks are wholly expecting him to remain out through the upcoming Olympic break. Buium has scored two goals and six points in 20 games, while averaging 20:25 of ice time per night, since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild in mid-December.
• The injury concern doesn’t end there for the Canucks. According to Sportsnet’s Randip Janda, forward Nils Höglander is being evaluated for a lower-body injury from yesterday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. It’s not the first time Höglander has dealt with injury concerns this year, missing the first two months of the season due to a separate lower-body ailment. He has registered only two assists in 18 games since returning.