Atlantic Notes: Kane, Ceci, Leafs
After turning himself in for arrest on July 22nd, Evander Kane was charged with four counts of non-criminal harassment and one count of criminal trespass which, according to Kane’s attorney Paul Cambria, he plans to plead not guilty to. Now, police documents acquired by WKBW Buffalo show (via Deadspin) sworn statements from multiple women and the bouncer at the club which the incident occurred.
“He grabbed my hair. He pulled it so hard he pulled my whole head. It hurt a lot.” claims one of the women, who also says Kane tried to force her to kiss his hand. Another woman claims that this is “how he always treats women. Aggressive and disrespectful.”
Immediately after news of the incident broke, trade speculation surrounding the former fourth-overall pick heated up, with many believing that his hometown of Vancouver would be a natural destination as they look to rebuild their club. Canucks’ beat writer Jason Botchford (The Province) fanned the flames today when he told TSN 1040 “there is no doubt about it. The Vancouver Canucks are going to be in on Evander Kane. Ownership loves Kane. Jim Benning really likes Kane. Trevor (Linden) is maybe a little ambivalent, but he can be won over.” Kane has two seasons remaining at $5.25MM, and scored just 35 points last season.
- The Ottawa Senators addressed one problem today when they re-signed RFA Mike Hoffman to a four-year deal, and will now turn their attention to defenseman Cody Ceci. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports what many have thought, that Ceci is amiably working towards a deal with the Sens and will work something out before camp starts. Garrioch goes on to report that the sides are working on a two-year deal at the moment, though obviously anything can change before ink goes to paper. Ceci scored a career-high 10 goals last season and is a big part of the Senators’ top four.
- Martin Marincin represents the Toronto Maple Leafs’ last remaining arbitration case after re-signing Peter Holland and Frankie Corrado on Monday. While Marincin offers some intrigue to Leaf fans because of his improved play last year as Morgan Rielly‘s partner, there is more to his signing than meets the eye. Three days after Marincin signs (or has the arbitration dispute resolved at his August 2nd hearing), the Leafs will be awarded a second buyout window which they could use to free up some more cap space. With Jared Cowen having filed a grievance over the attempted buyout from the first window (he maintains that he’s still rehabbing an injury sustained during the season, which would make him exempt from any buyout), the team may be waiting until it’s resolved in order to use the second buyout to terminate his contract. Joffrey Lupul, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Brooks Laich all remain as other possible options for the second buyout window, should the Maple Leafs choose to use it.
Evander Kane Charged With Misdemeanor Trespassing
The Buffalo News reports that Sabres forward Evander Kane has voluntarily turned himself in to the authorities in Buffalo. Several other sources have confirmed the news as well. The News writes that Kane will face one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass and up to four counts of non-criminal harassment.
Kane’s lawyer told the News that Kane maintains his innocence, and plans to fight the charges.
The News reports that Kane turned himself in at around 11am. The charges stem from an incident in a bar this past June where Kane purportedly placed his hands on a bouncer and three different women during an early morning incident.
Two incidence reports were filed. Kane allegedly tried to engage in a physical confrontation with the bouncer and then reportedly became combative with two different women both inside and outside the bar. The News reports that authorities declined to comment when asked about Kane being intoxicated.
The Buffalo Police Department have released a statement indicating the charges.
Weeks ago, ESPN reported that Sabres general manager Tim Murray was displeased with the latest round of legal issues surrounding the 24-year-old forward. The story was written prior to the charges being filed. Darren Dreger tweets that while the NHL is monitoring the situation, they are not expected to take any disciplinary action at this time. They will, however, recommend him for behavioral health professionals for counseling if necessary.
Mike Harrington tweets that Kane will not be going anywhere. He reiterates that the charges stem from the incident on June 24th, and that nothing new was added. Harrington also bristles at the thought of Buffalo dealing Kane to another team.
The Sabres have issued a statement regarding Kane’s arrest: “We are aware of the charges against Evander Kane stemming from an incident last month. Our organization will have no further comment at this time.” Obviously, the team will collect all pertinent information before responding to the situation.
Atlantic Notes: Vesey, Kane, Red Wings, Stamkos
While he is still expected to test the free agent market on August 15th when his negotiating rights expire, Jimmy Vesey will sit down with representatives from the Sabres on Thursday, writes Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com. Buffalo traded a third round pick in last month’s draft for the rights to talk to him early and to get to make their pitch to him before anyone else can.
Toronto and Boston are also believed to be on Vesey’s shortlist though he’ll undoubtedly have no shortage of suitors once he’s able to talk to all teams in mid-August.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Still with the Sabres, winger Evander Kane will face non-criminal harassment charges stemming from a bar incident on June 24th, reports Lou Michel of the Buffalo News.
- While Detroit GM Ken Holland acknowledges that the team would still like to add some help on defense, it may take a while for that to happen as he told Gregg Krupa of the Detroit News that a decision may not be made until September. The Red Wings appear to currently have a surplus of forwards that could potentially be used to acquire a blueliner but it may take until training camp to sort out which ones could possibly be expendable, depending on the continued development of youngsters such as Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou.
- Tampa Bay C Steven Stamkos doesn’t appear to have any lingering effects from the blood clot that caused him to miss most of the playoffs, telling Lightning beat writer Bryan Burns that he is already into his full offseason workout routine. That’s certainly a positive sign for both him and the team after Stamkos agreed to the richest deal of the offseason at eight years and $68MM.