Recently Evander Kane favorite a tweet which had him being traded to the Flyers, I suspect this was most likely an honest mistake on his part or just him messing with people while reminding Winnipeg how much he would like to be moved, but it appears this is a story that could go into the summer, so how does Evander Kane end up in Orange and Black…………….
The Flyers are in desperate need of a true scoring Left Winger, no disrespect to anyone on the current roster or in their system all together but one thing the Flyers are lacking and haven’t made much effort to change is their lack of a sniper to play on a line with Giroux and Voracek. Signing Vinny Lecavalier had hopes he could play the Left Wing on the top line is well, not working out, not even a little, Vinny is best suited for playing the 2C and shouldn’t even be mentioned as a Left Wing. There was Scott Hartnell who was recently traded, while he did score 37 goals a few years ago that was a product of playing with Giroux and Jagr, nothing personal Scott but you are a second or third line winger at best and I am willing to bet he never breaks the 30 goal plateau again.
So now what, it has been suggested that Matt Read move from third line RW to first line LW, I am not completely against that move, Read is talented and has shown flashes of being a goal scorer but personally I like the chemistry he and Couturier have together and the Flyers third line (Raffl included) has done a great job of shutting down teams top lines while also producing some points, this line could eventually be the Flyers second line but that’s a different discussion all together. RJ Umberger could get a shot at the top line LW spot and he might be able to match Hartnell’s numbers but then again that doesn’t seem likely, Columbus demoted him to the third line for a reason and he was a healthy scratch a few times last season, not a good sign he can play on the top line. I have myself suggested Brayden Schenn, personally I think he will thrive at the LW spot, I don’t see him as a top center but given time I think he can be a scoring winger, he has a knack for finding loose pucks and putting them in the back of the net and playing with Giroux and Voracek will elevate his game over time, but this isn’t a given and it’s quite a risk to take.
This leads me to Evander Kane, he wants out of Winnipeg in the worst way and considering he is only 22 plus has already had a 30 goal season, exploring how to acquire this kid is something Hextall and most likely every GM in the league is looking into. The Flyers are in cap hell at the moment and until Lecavalier is moved making a trade like this is almost impossible given that Kane is already making 5.25 million a season (for 4 more seasons) this doesn’t help. But I am sure the Flyers can make a deal to bring Evander Kane to Philly (they want a young Center, the Flyers have those in spades and no Couturier is not available so don’t ask) can be made. But it’s not just the cap that is an issue, many are concerned about Kane off the ice, its often speculated that his biggest and only concern is Evander Kane, his behavior about getting himself out of Winnipeg is a red flag itself, to those concerns I say this, he is a 22 year old kid with loads of talent on a bad team, put him in the right situation with a chance to win and flourish, letting his full skill set develop this kid will score 40 goals, I am willing to take that risk.
By Fred Jackson
Follow Me on Twitter: @FJackson76
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