Trade Notes: Kane, Pettersson, Laine

On the trade market for nearly a month, the expectation remains that Vancouver Canucks forward Evander Kane will be moved in the next few days before the trade deadline. On Insider Trading, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported renewed interest in Kane from playoff-bound teams after the Olympic break.

He didn’t provide an exhaustive list, but Johnston stated that the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, among others, have each inquired about Kane to some capacity. Johnston doesn’t expect the price to be all that high, and he indicated that the Canucks have no issue retaining half of Kane’s salary for the rest of the season, making him much more financially palatable.

There’s no question that Kane has had a disappointing season by his standards, scoring nine goals and 25 points in 56 games with a -18 rating, averaging 16:50 of ice time per game. Still, he remains a physical middle-six winger who’s one year removed from scoring six goals and 12 points in 21 postseason games for the Edmonton Oilers.

Additional trade notes:

• On Insider Trading, TSN’s Darren Dreger spoke briefly about Kane’s teammate, Elias Pettersson. Although there is heightened interest in Pettersson, Dreger shared that the Canucks haven’t received any legitimate offers for their first-line center and haven’t had any reason to contact Pettersson or his agency about waiving his full no-movement clause. After scoring 73 goals and 191 points in 162 games from 2022 to 2024, Pettersson has only registered 28 goals and 79 points in 113 games since, making him a difficult player to assess. Factoring in his $11.6MM cap hit through the 2031-32 season, it’s becoming increasingly likely that Vancouver won’t find a suitable offer.
• After the injury to winger Kevin Fiala in the Olympics, the Los Angeles Kings have a near-drastic need for a scoring winger if they have any hopes of reaching the playoffs this year. One player that has been mildly linked to Los Angeles in the last few days is Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine, though that no longer appears to be in the cards. According to Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period, the Kings checked in on Laine over the last few days, but no longer believe there’s a fit between the two. Bernstein didn’t clarify if the Kings were turned off by the price, Laine’s injury history, a combination of the two, or something else entirely.